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Meghalaya goes for Wi-Fi hotspots |
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Written by Shivkumar Jagannath
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Wednesday, 25 July 2007 |
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The beautiful state of Meghalaya in India's North-east has announced plans to set up Free Wi-Fi hotspots across Shillong, the capital city.
Mr
Robert Garnett Lyngdoh, the IT minister of Meghalaya says that
Meghalaya will be the first state in India to offer free Wi-Fi to
tourists and locals for non-commercial use. Initially, there would be
five local hotspots within the Shillong area, covering a radius of one
kilometre, Mr Lyngdoh said.
Shillong is a tourist
paradise and is more westernised than most other Indian cities. This
step is one of the many initiatives in India towards promoting the use
of Wi-Fi to bridge the Digital Divide.
"Our project is not just to attract investors in tourism and IT but also
to create awareness and interests among the educated youth about the
fast-emerging Information and Communication Technology-based
enterprises and services, that can open up new job avenues for them",
the IT minister said
I think this is one of the most practical ways of looking at Wi-Fi.
Instead of getting bogged down with Muni wireless, mesh networks and
other such jargon, the user (the Govt in this case) is very clear about
what they want. They just want to provide free wi-fi period.
Like someone said, "Build a road and the people will automatically find ways to use it".
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