Why are MG Road and Brigade Road in Bangalore's Central Business District (CBD) getting Wi-Fi hotspots free of cost? Is it because of focus on the upcoming state assembly elections scheduled for May this year, or to show foreign investors how advanced India's self-proclaimed "Silicon Valley" is? I think the citizens of the city and the state, would appreciate using the same money to prevent interruptions in electricity supply this summer.

A Times Of India report says free Wi-Fi is slated to be provided at the two "commercial hubs" of the city by D-VoiS, a  private player. Apparently the decision to "create a revolution in India" was taken by a Government appointed committee, headed by former Infosion Mohandas Pai.  As of now, the project will run on a "pilot" basis. Mohandas Pai told the Times Of India, "A smartphone revolution is happening in India, but connectivity is still an issue here. We wanted to provide seamless internet access to people".

Let's examine which "people" could be benefited - those who already tote a laptop, or have an expensive smartphone/tablet with WiFi capability. Whether they be shopkeepers and assistants accessing the network from their workplace, or visiting customers accessing it on the move (or from within parked cars), both parties would rather be sure the drainage systems are capable of dealing with the upcoming early rains here. Moreover, such "free" services may end up drawing people to an already congested locality in urgent need of relief measures.

The free WiFi is most likely to operate in the 2.4 GHz radio band, would have to be spread far, and have strong enough signal to be usable in the area. Those whose existing WiFi networks will be disrupted due to "radio pollution", will just have to tolerate it. You can also forget Bluetooth-based sharing of photos taken posed in front of city landmarks, as the WiFi signal will conflict with the same radio frequency. If you thought signal radiation from cell-phones were harmful, get ready to see worse from this gratuitous WiFi signal/noise.

Even after the "free Wi-Fi" becomes operational, data transfer speeds are likely to be abysmal - what did you expect for free? At least your GPRS/3G/4G service providers are answerable to the paying customer when service quality goes bad.

Economical implications would be interesting. Perhaps existing Internet subscribers in the area can opt for the service at an assured faster speed, at a fee, or after 3-6 months of free access. To me, this looks like a business circumventing ISP/wireless licensing norms under the guise of "public service", after mobile operators were forced to shut shop in many telecom circles.

The probability of a scam is high too. Consider all the creative accounting probable with acquiring the many tens of wireless routers, the poles needed to mount them, the labour and the OFC backbone required to support it all.

To all those who pooh-poohed the economic viability of free TVs and free grain; not to speak of the free alcohol distributed during elections - this scheme is your nemesis, the middle-class equivalent of handouts to the poor.

TAGS: computers, technology, Bangalore