North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has approached the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, Reliance Jio Infocomm, and asked it to launch its Wi-Fi services in Central Delhi by June, 2015. The corporation has asked Reliance Jio to set up the Wi-Fi network in all the areas that come within its jurisdiction.
Prominent places like government offices, central marketing areas, Lutyens Delhi, CBD colonies, NDMC colonies and embassies will be covered. Needless to say, residents will greatly benefit from this installation.
Plans of the Government
The Government decided that all cities and towns with a population of more than 10 lakhs should have access to Wi-Fi services by December, 2015. Along with major cities, popular tourist destinations should also be covered. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his ‘Digital India’ project, under which he has declared that 25 major cities of the country will be enabled with Wi-Fi services by June, 2015.
Preparations of Reliance Jio
The Mukesh Ambani-led company has initiated this installation process and has assured that the deadline will be met. It will make use of pillars of street lights to install the Wi-Fi devices. This will ensure better connectivity and reach and enable high speed to the users.
In the past, Reliance Jio had declared that it will be launching its 4G services across India in 2015. It aims to cover 5,000 towns and cities and 2,15,000 villages. It is targeting more than 90% of the urban population in India.
Steps in the Past
To test efficiency, Reliance Jio had already run many trial tests of its 4G Wi-Fi services. It has widely targeted Gujarat. It gave public Wi-Fi services in the state in April and May last year in Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Surat. In January 2015, it chose major events held in the state to give free Wi-Fi services. These events include Vibrant Gujarat, and Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in the capital city, Gandhinagar. It also rolled out free Wi-Fi services in a metro city, Kolkata, for the first time.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited is a subsidiary of the Mukesh Ambani flagship, Reliance Industries. It is the first telecom operator in India to hold a pan-India Unified License (UL). It acquired this in October, 2013 and is since enabled to use varied technology to provide telecom services.
Reliance Jio also has a pan-India Broadband Wireless Access spectrum. It acquired this in 2010. The rules state that all the companies that acquired Broadband Wireless Access spectrum should initiate their services in 90% of the service areas by August, 2015. If the companies are unable to achieve this, then the Department of Telecom (DoT) has the authority to take back the radio waves given to them.
With this spectrum, Reliance Jio can provide 4G services in all the areas of the country. Besides, the company also has the Internet Service Provider (ISP) license through acquisition of Infotel Broadband Services. With this, it can provide any kind of broadband services in the country.
Summary
Reliance Jio Infocomm will launch and set up its Wi-Fi network in Central Delhi by June, 2015.