Bengaluru to get free wi-fi hotspots

India's IT city will be the first in the country to get free wi-fi hotspots. Next month, Bangalore's shopping destinations Brigade road and MG road will have free wi-fi access as part of a plan to make Bangalore the first city to have such a service available at public spots.

The idea is the brainchild of Mohandas Pai, a former executive at Infosys, now the Chairman of Manipal Global Education. He believes that the most important component of the IT revolution, the internet is still less than stellar. The service which will kick off from next month will be on testing phase. The pilot phase will last for 6 months post which the Pai team will consider upgrades and expansions to other areas. The service will be evaluated by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) panel which will then present its views to the government.

The decision to offer free wireless broadband access was taken last year and the recommendations of the ICT group were sent to Karnataka's chief minister in January. Bangalore-based internet service provider D-VoiS has been assigned to implement the pilot free of charge. Pai has been stated in Economic Times saying, "Once the pilot finishes, we will talk to other private ISPs and figure out a revenue-sharing model".