State-backed metro telecom major MTNL will launch an 8 Mbps wi-fi service in Mumbai and Delhi by April or latest by July. MTNL is in talks with around 40 large corporates, food courts, branded cafe chains and Mumbai and Delhi airports to offer its wi-fi service (which could be extended to railways at a later stage).
The planned unlimited service will be six times faster than MTNL’s current broadband offering of 2 Mbps.
It will be made available via a modem costing Rs 6,000 (whose price will be lowered as volumes expand) and a roaming device costing Rs 50-100. MTNL wi-fi can be also accessed via existing devices like mobile phones (which are operator-neutral), data cards and other broadband devices by paying a fee of Rs 50-100.
With Reliance Jio Infocomm, Airtel and Aircel readying to launch 4G services, possibly across India, MTNL said it can’t afford to lag in Mumbai and Delhi where it operates.
Peeyush Agarwal, executive director, MTNL, said, “In partnership with C-Dot, we are going to come up in a big way in wi-fi technology using unlicensed spectrum.”
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