Meghalaya sets up free public Wi-Fi hotspots

Shillong, Jul 24: The Meghalaya government is setting up public Wi-Fi or Wireless Fidelity hotspots here to attract investors in the Information Technology (IT) and Tourism sectors in the state.

The main objective of this 'pilot experiment' is to project the state as one of the best investment destinations for IT and Tourism industry, IT Minister Robert Garnett Lyngdoh said.

''Meghalaya will be the first state to offer free public Wi-Fi services to both tourists and locals for its promotion,'' Mr Lyngdoh told sources today.

A Wi-Fi hotspot is a location that offers free high-speed wireless internet connection to anybody, who can access the facility through Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phones, hand-held PDA, laptop within a specific zone.

Initially, there would be five local hotspots within the Shillong area, covering a radius of one kilometre, Mr Lyngdoh said.

''Our project is not just to attract investors in tourism and IT but also to create awareness and interests among the educated youth about the fast-emerging Information and Communication Technology-based enterprises and services, that can open up new job avenues for them,'' the IT minister said.

''We have invited tenders from 'end-to-end service providers' for each of these locations,'' IT secretary and in-charge of this project Donald P.Wahlang said.

Mr Wahlang said during this period the free Wi-Fi facility would be available only for non-commercial purposes. Even the city cyber cafes would be barred from using this service.

''We'll have a system to monitor the cyber cafes, which have their respective IP addresses,'' he said adding that anyone misusing this would be easily caught.

With Shillong branded as 'a beautiful hill station' since the British Raj, the IT Secretary hoped that the proposed free Wi-Fi hotspots would be able to attract more visitors and business.

UNI