Public WiFi seems to have become a reality in South India with Hyderabad becoming the first city in the south zone to have BSNL WiFi internet. WiFi hotspots will be available across 30 areas in the city, while other major cities of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will see connectivity in the next 2-3 years. In October last year, the Government of Telangana had tied-up with Bharti Airtel to launch public Wi-Fi hotspots in Hyderabad. 17 hotspot locations had been launched on a pilot basis across Hyderabad between Cyber Towers to Madhapur Police Station, Cyber Towers to Kothaguda Junction and Cyber Towers to Raheja Mindspace Circle. Designated zones for IT growth Initially, WiFi will be available around a 10 km radius of Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad. The government claims that 1,800-2,500 users should be able to access the service simultaneously. Here's a list of all the public WiFi spots in India, as of November last year. The Telangana government has designated areas called the The Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) along with the GoI which will include 50,000 acres in and around Hyderabad to deploy IT growth and electronic hardware manufacturing. OTP to connect, free for 30 minutes On selecting the public WiFi, a one time password (OTP) is sent to the user’s mobile number. Once the user enters the OTP, he can latch on to the WiFi, where he can see both paid and free services. WiFi will be free to use for the first 30 minutes (for maximum 3 occasions…
