Telangana Government Looking to Make Hyderabad a Wi-Fi Enabled City

In a bid to make Hyderabad the first fully Wi-Fi enabled metro city in the country, Telangana. Government is holding talks with various telecom service providers to offer the services.

The state's Information Technology Minister K T Rama Rao told reporters in Hyderabad that steps are being taken to offer Wi-Fi services across greater Hyderabad metropolitan area.

"We are taking a leaf out of cities like Mountain View and Houston for offering Wi-Fi services. We are speaking to service providers," he said, adding that they are also looking at Ahmedabad and Bangalore where Wi-Fi services are available on a limited basis.

Asked whether any time line has been set for it, Rao said they are working to have it at the earliest but no deadline has been fixed as yet.

Hyderabad city, which has a population 12 million, is one of the major IT hubs in the country. "We want to offer Wi-Fi services to enable more citizen services," he said.

Back in June, the Telangana government had said several firms were coming forward to provide 4G technology for making the entire Hyderabad a Wi-Fi enabled city.

Officials were asked to draft a master plan by engaging international consultants and involving Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, revenue, electricity, Hyderabad Metro Rail and sports departments, said a government statement at the time.

Minister for Information Technology K. Taraka Rama Rao mooted an institute of innovation for training engineering students to compete with global standards. He also suggested a separate authority for the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) project for creating a hub for electronic hardware manufacturing units.

Written with agency inputs