Delhi: Six months on, corporations’ broadband scheme lags

NEW DELHI: Over six months ago, the three municipal corporations had launched the Wi-Fi scheme to provide affordable internet services in every nook and corner of the city. They had also selected hotspot locations in several wards, but not even 50% of these sites are currently operational.
The corporations aimed to provide broadband services through 4,620 public data offices (PDOs) and had identified 2,554 sites, but so far only 1,434 have been made operational.
In south Delhi, 20 connections were planned in each ward when the scheme was launched by South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) in March.
“The councillors were supposed to identify the PDOs and select the aggregators registered on SDMC’s official website. We identified 998 locations, got services established at 518 and made a one-month payment to 395 PDOs till July,” said an SDMC official.
SDMC was supposed to pay for the device and one month of data to the PDOs, which is why a limited number of centres were being installed.
“The idea was to help PDOs, who were local shopkeepers or residents, with the initial investment so that they could continue with the business easily in future. We installed service centres in limited numbers because we wanted to see the response first. After July, stress was given on popularising these centres. Considering limitations, like a 50-metre range for each device and connection to a limited number of people at a time, the concept is yet to be used widely,” said the official.
On Tuesday, the deliberative wing of SDMC raised the matter in the standing committee meeting wherein councillors complained that despite sharing details of prospective PDOs, there was no response from the department.
“Most councillors have shared the list and the project has been implemented in some wards. But the officials have cited financial constraints and the aggregators responsible for providing broadband services to PDOs not doing the task diligently. We have not fixed any deadline, but are trying our level best to get it implemented soon,” said Col BK Oberoi (Retd), chairman, standing committee.
Compared with other internet providers, the PDOs are extremely cost-effective as residents can get a connection at Rs 50 per month, Rs 25 per week or Rs 5 per day.
“Each PDO can provide Wi-Fi to only 25-50 people at a time. Still, we are taking the help of councillors to identify more points to establish them,” said an East Delhi Municipal Corporation official. The corporation has not yet set up a single centre out of the targeted 640 after launching the scheme in May.
A north corporation official said they had set up 916 centres out of the 1,900 identified since the scheme was launched. “Due to a delay in payment, the civic body could not take the project ahead. Also, some locations had to be changed, but we are working to meet the target,” added the official.