The government’s plan to provide free wireless internet services on two commercial roads in Bangalore — Mahatma Gandhi Road and Brigade Road — found mention in Friday’s Budget speech, presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

This brings hope to many that the project, which was slated to be launched in March, will see the light of day. Government sources told The Hindu that the project is being implemented by Bangalore-based internet service provider D-VoiS, free of charge.

The Chief Minister proposed that similar pilot schemes will be launched in Hubli-Dharwad, Mangalore and Mysore.

The idea was first proposed by the Karnataka ICT group in its report submitted in January. T.V. Mohandas Pai, member of the group, said the project is slated to take off in “a few weeks’ time”. The pilot is being done for free, hence, no allocation has been made. But the larger idea is to extend this and make wi-fi spots in places like shopping complexes or transit points in the city.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bangalore / by Staff Reporter / July 13th, 2013