December is the follow-up month at TNM where we go back to headlines of the past for a status update. In this series, we strive to bring focus back to promises made by governments, revisit official investigations that should have been completed by now and exhume issues of public interest that lost steam over time.
The Telangana government’s ambitious free public wi-fi project was launched in the capital Hyderabad more than five years ago. Today, Hyderabad offers more than 3,000 public wi-fi hotspots across the city where citizens can log in and make use of the free facility. TNM took the help of citizens to cross-check if the wi-fi hotspots were functional in several locations across Hyderabad.
The free public wi-fi initiative, named the Hyderabad City Wi-Fi project or Hy-Fi project, was launched on June 20, 2017 in collaboration with leading telecom operators. More than five years after the launch and more than 1.5 years since the government’s announcement that the city has more than 3,000 wi-fi hotspots, TNM’s follow-up found that almost all the wi-fi hotspots are functional.
Initially, 1,000 wi-fi hotspots were set up across Hyderabad and it was announced that this would eventually be increased to 3,000 hotspots. This was achieved in April 2021, when broadband company ACT Fibernet organised an event to mark the occasion. The event was attended by IT Minister KT Rama Rao, Hyderabad Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, and ACT Fibernet CEO Bala Malladi.
Responding to TNM’s query, ACT Fibernet’s spokesperson said, “ACT Fibernet has installed 3,000+ public wi-fi hotspots points in Hyderabad city. These hotspots are located across the city in malls, hospitals, public parks, metro stations, public libraries, educational institutions, etc. for easy access. The project is alive, running, and serving the city of Hyderabad. We have a team of over 50 engineers and technicians supporting these wi-fi hotspots.”
According to Act Fibernet, on an average 2.4 lakh citizens log in to the free wi-fi every month. Act also revealed that cumulatively more than 30 lakh people have logged into the free internet service and that users have consumed 140+ terabytes (TB) every month, cumulatively.
When asked whether ACT Fibernet had any information regarding probable misuse of the free internet facility, the spokesperson said, “We do not track user data or any specific website used/ accessed by users, in compliance with ACT’s privacy policy.”
From sources in the telecom industry, it is learnt that Bharti Airtel had set up nearly 125 wi-fi hotspots as part of the same free public internet initiative. While sources revealed that nearly 100 of these hotspots are still functional, TNM’s query to Bharti Airtel regarding the same went unanswered. This story will be updated when TNM receives a reply.
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