Connecting the Citizens
Lucknow Introduces Free Public Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is a portal where everyone loves to have their hands upon. By August 2015, Lucknow was blessed with the much-awaited ‘free’ Wi-Fi zone. More than anyone in the population, maximum excitement was felt by the youth. It seems to be beneficial to those who belong to the unprivileged sections of the society to take the maximum benefit from this. There seems to be huge crowd gathering within the Wi-Fi radius.
As per the magazine Governance now Akhilesh seems to be targeting the rural and urban areas both for Internet. The Wi-Fi service provided by Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited will be extending to other parts of Lucknow and across state. “We plan to provide the service at all prominent tourist places of UP” the young chief minister said. He promised that the Wi-Fi services will be 4G in the near future and will compliment the free laptop scheme of the government wherein even students from villages and poor families will make use of the Internet through facilities extended by the government..
“It helps in downloading apps quickly and socializing with people when we run out of our Internet pack” said Shalu Singh, a frequent user at Hazratganj. Not only this, It also helps keep the marketing business running, with people hanging more round the corner, the customer availability goes not without being unnoticed. In the era where more than half the youth is hungry on ‘being connected’ instead of struggling for sustaining life, government of India seems to be working on its way to feed them the same. Lucknow seems to be the third city after Kolkata and Delhi to have a free Wi-Fi portal open for its people to connect and use it for dynamic reasons either to upload a picture and post their recent activity or Snap-chat that was made for people with ‘Selfie-syndrome’, and it is for this reason, having a Wi-Fi seems fair enough to feed such souls. The ‘Ganjing Carnival’ live updates seem to be running among the youth public. Social ventures now seem easy with this service. Wi-Fi helps people feel updated, especially to those who are not independent enough can easily take the benefit and download not only apps but also remain socially active” says Nabeela Ahmed, an entrepreneur in Lucknow.
“It motivates me to visit the place more, not just for Internet but also spend time shopping and relaxing and appreciating whatever the place has to offer”, said a local resident. Seems that, if the government helps provide more of such facilities, we will not be needing mobile data packs anymore.
When asked a young student what it would be if Wi-Fi were provided to a larger scale? He responds ‘It seems that it will build a debate with the companies carrying data pack facilities to that of Wi-Fi in near future.’
Recently Charbagh has upgraded its services by adopting Wi-Fi zone in its premises. People can now remain updated with departure and arrival of the train, cancel and book tickets, payment and transaction related work, all with the help of Wi-Fi. It seems like not only the social ventures but also transport facilities are successful in helping the public become more ‘Internet-friendly’. ‘We are so blessed that if any transaction or quick call is to be made, one can access it through Wi-Fi’ replied a University student.
Lucknow can gear up for becoming the future city having Wi-Fi for free stretching across meters to attract public perhaps. To remain ‘fit’ is a symbol regulated since 21st century, with spreading its focus with ‘health’ related parks and gyms that may turn out to be the next free ‘Wi-Fi-zones’ for keeping people attracted with their fitness apps. It may be possible that people begin coming out of their houses, all because the presence of Wi-Fi that promises to keep them alive around the world and their social networks. ‘It will be like a competition, making people feel alive through athletic rates’. It can also spread its wings to culinary department. Many food bloggers and other food lovers will feel blessed having these services present on various gadgets. It is all about the time that will tell how far these strategies will be successful universally. n
Faiza Mumtaz
(Published in The Lucknow Observer, Volume 3 Issue 4,July 2016)