Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom operator, has won the mandate for the launch of Wi-Fi services in Gurgaon from the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG). The company says that it intends to soon roll out WiFi services at MG Road, Sadar Bazaar, Sector 29, Sirhaul Village and Leisure Valley Park at a speed of 2mbps for mobile internet users. The model being followed: - Users will get 30 minutes per day per device (probably mobile device). - Post 30 minutes of usage, they will be "charged a nominal amount", which Airtel hasn't specified, and can consume data from their data packs - Users will be able to buy vouchers to continue using. What's not clear from this: - Whether the amount being charged for continued usage is something like a cover charge, with additional charges for usage - Whether the data pack linked usage will be for Airtel users only or across operators - Whether vouchers can be bought using carrier billing from telecom operators other than Airtel. We're writing to Airtel for more details on model being adopted. Do read about the model we prefer, here*. What about FireFly Networks? It's worth noting that Airtel had piloted WiFi at Cyberhub in Gurgaon for a while, and its competitor Vodafone provided WiFi at a metro station near Cyberhub. The two have a joint venture, and had recently installed WiFi services at the Supreme Court of India. You can read more about this here. It's not clear exactly how Airtel and Vodafone are working on…
