The 94.5-km Mumbai-Pune Expressway would perhaps witness the largest deployment of public WiFi in India, with the State government planning to provide connectivity over the entire stretch. Simultaneously, the Government is also looking to provide WiFi along Thane-Ghodbunder Corridor and along many other highways in the state.

On Tuesday, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) called for an Expression of Interest (EoI) from telecom operators, service providers, infrastructure providers to install telecom infrastructure along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Thane-Ghodbunder Corridor.

A senior MSRDC official told BusinessLine that the deployment of WiFi would be perhaps the largest public WiFi in the country. MSRDC management would hold meetings with technology vendors for the deployment, while it is working on to bring in a revenue model.

However, the official decline to provide a timeframe for the completion of the project, adding the Corporation will consider various technology options.

MSRDC will hold a consultative conference on January 11, while the last date for submission of EoIs would be January 19, 2017.

The expressway, which became operational in 2002, connects Mumbai to Pune, an industrial and educational hub. Officially known as the Yashwantrao Chavan Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the six-lane high-speed highway reduced travel time between Mumbai and Pune to about two hours.

The tollway has collected a total of Rs 5,318.42 crore as toll, while expansion plans of about Rs 3,215 crore are underway.

The State government had also plans for a 706-km-long ‘Communication Super Highway’ connecting Nagpur to Mumbai. The Rs 46,000-crore project, which was expected to slash travel time to Mumbai by eight hours, is expected to be completed by 2019. On Tuesday MSRDC had also called for Request for Qualification (RFQ) from construction companies for the mammoth project. The planned toll-road would also have WiFi umbrella for connectivity.

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