The Hindu Business Line : Free WiMAX trial offer in Bangalore

The State Government will offer a 10-day free trial of wireless Internet access (using WiMAX, Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access) as an aperitif to Unwired Bangalore. Between Wednesday night and the weekend, the network will be up, offering a 2 MBps connection at select locations in the city. It will be available to citizens till November 2, said Mr M.N. Vidyashankar, IT & BT Secretary to the Karnataka government.

Unwired Bangalore is a Rs 20 crore project that will allow citizens to access wireless Internet at blazing speeds of 25 MBps from a park, or even their terraces. The project is still in the initial stages, with the committee headed by the Institute of Information Technology Director, Mr S. Sadagopan, zeroing in on providers. The project will be completed in 2008.

Meanwhile, service providers Aircel and Microsense are setting up WiMAX towers for this pilot project. Each tower will have a cell radius of 4-5 km, compared to WiFi's (Wireless Fidelity) limited range of a few metres.

The service is anticipated to begin on Saturday, coinciding with the State's annual event, BangaloreIT.in. "We are fighting against time to set it up by Saturday," Mr S. Kailasanathan, MD, Microsense, told Business Line. The locations identified for the free Internet access are Palace Grounds, Vikas Soudha and Vidhana Soudha, said Mr Vidyashankar.