Residents face difficulty accesing the facility launched two months ago
Kochi: The much-hyped free Wi-fi connectivity in 10 selected areas in the city offered by the City Corporation in association with BSNL has turned out to be futile as customers are unable to access it most of the time. During the last two months since it was launched, only a few people have been able to access it.
Meanwhile, BSNL authorities failed to provide details of data on how many people access the Wi-fi facility per day and what is the total number of customers who accessed it after July 3, when it was launched.
The civic body has announced the setting up of free Wi-fi access points at Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, Marine Drive, High Court, Subhash Park, Corporation main office, Jose junction, Vyttila Mobility Hub, Edappally junction and Kaloor.
To use the service, a user will need to have an authentication password, which will be sent to his or her mobile number after registering on the network.
Though BSNL claims that users will be able to access the internet through Wi-fi within a 300-meter radius of the hotspot after registering on the network, the website gets hanged after entering the details, customers complain.
The promised speed of up to 10mbps also remains on paper. The facility is not active even within the Corporation office premises.
“After its launch I could access it only one or two times and usually I am not able to enter the network due to low speed and poor connectivity,” said a top civic official.
Meanwhile, Corporation secretary V.R Raju told DC that issues of free internet connectivity would be taken up with BSNL authorities. “If the facility is not functioning as promised, it will be brought to the notice of BSNL and they will be asked to take corrective measures,” he said.
It was announced that once a user is registered, they will be offered 1.5 hours of free browsing time per month, with each session not exceeding 30 minutes. Customers can also buy vouchers for '30, '50 and'150 that offer 30 minutes, an hour and unlimited browsing respectively.
