Shimla will be offering free Wi-Fi to revelers during its international summer festival week which is scheduled to begin on June 1. Takinder Panwar who serves as the Deputy Mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation, has reportedly told the press that the Wi-Fi network will cover the areas from Scandal Point to the Anglican Christ Church.
The free Wi-Fi zone will support specific locations in Shimla that are connected to the Ridge, several parts of central Mall Road and the famous Scandal Point. It will be set up using seven routers to act as access points. These will be installed at Padam Dev Complex, HPMC counter, State Library, Ashiana Hotel, Old SMC building, Scandal Point and Gaiety theater.
Each of the Wi-Fi routers will provide free Internet to areas within a 150-meter radius. The facility will be open to the public and is a pilot project. If everything works as planned, the Shimla Municipal Corporation may just consider offering the service on a long-term basis. The Wi-Fi hotspots might work well as ‘citizen service centers’ for locals as well as tourists.
Residents of Shimla could access government portals using the free Wi-Fi and apply to receive birth or death certificates and similar official documents. As for the Wi-Fi zones which will open during the summer festival, users can expect speeds of up to 1 Mbps while surfing the web. The password for the hotspots will be sent to the registered mobile numbers, says PTI.
Upon receiving access to the Wi-Fi zone, the person connected to it will be sent to the Shimla Municipal Corporation’s Facebook page. Since the body plans to set up 25 to 30 such hotspots in the future, the authorities wish for users to leave their comments on the free facility. The feedback would come in handy when determining what changes need to be made, if necessary.
The Shimla International Summer Festival begins this week and will end on June 7. The free Wi-Fi facility will be available for two hours each day until then.