As a major poll promise, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government will create 11,000 hotspots across the city to provide free internet through Wi-Fi. The AAP convenor said that the work to provide free Wi-Fi has started. Kejriwal made these remarks while addressing a press conference in the national capital during which he said that after the completion of the installation which will begin in three months, a registered user will be able to avail free 15 GB of 200 Mbps internet per month using the facility.
According to Kejriwal, of the 11,000 WiFi hotspots, 4,000 will be at bus-stops, while the remaining 7,000 across various spots in 70 Assembly segments of the Capital. Each hotspot will be able to serve as many as 200 users at a time. The project will be implemented by the government’s public work’s department (PWD).
This was included in the 2015 manifesto promise of AAP, the project which missed several deadlines is now set to roll out months before the Delhi Assembly Polls scheduled in February 2020.
After approving the proposal in the Cabinet meeting that he chaired, Kejriwal said, “This is the first phase of this project. This will be the largest free Wi-Fi project anywhere in the world. Once we complete the first phase, we will collate the learning from the experience and make provisions for additional hotspots if necessary in the next phase. The WiFi hotspots will be installed within the next 3 to 4 months.”
PWD Minister, Satyendar Jain said that the project the capital investment in setting up the infrastructure will be made by the vendor. He said, “But the government will bear the operating cost of approximately Rs 100 crore per annum for providing 15 GB free WiFi per month for all users.”
Regarding his government’s plan of installing CCTVs across the national capital, he announced the Cabinet’s approval for the installation of 1.4 lakh additional CCTV cameras in the residential areas of Delhi. He said that now a total of 2.8 lakh CCTVs will be installed in the national capital. He also added that around 4000 CCTVs will be installed in each assembly segment in Delhi.
He further added, “The public response about these CCTV cameras has been overwhelmingly positive. These cameras have already started helping local authorities nab thieves and miscreants. We have approved the purchase of 1.4 lakh more CCTV cameras. This means each assembly will now have 4,000 cameras and Delhi will have 2.8 lakh cameras.”
