Vaishno Devi goes Wi-Fi today

Come Thursday and lakhs of devotees going to pay their obeisance at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine will have Wi-Fi accessibility as Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is slated to launch the services at the pilgrimage destination. The state-owned telecom service provider – BSNL – will launch the wi-fi facility at Vaishno, which will be its 1,000th hotspot in the country.

According an official note, the Telecom Minister will launch the facility from Delhi. The public telecom service provider had planned to set up 2,500 wi-fi hotspots in 250 locations at a cost of Rs 500 crore in the current fiscal.

According to a BSNL official, a couple of days back, the customs department had cleared another 750 hotspots which would be set up in the next few days. The official said that the telecom company will set up as many hotspots as possible in the next 15 days to meet the target. As part of the Digital India programme, the government is working towards enabling all cities, with a population of over one million, tourist centres and religious places with wi-fi hotspots.

BSNL usually provides free wi-fi services for 30 minutes and after the free usage limit is exhausted, the user has to buy subscription plans.