BIAL's another first: Non-stop wi-fi connectivity

BIAL's another first: Non-stop wi-fi connectivity
Friday October 5 2007 12:14 IST

Sangeetha B K

BANGALORE: The Devanahalli airport will be the first-ever International Greenfield airport to provide wi-fi (wireless-fidelity) facility to passengers on the move.

The entire terminal building of BIAL will have wi-fi facilities to a prescribed perimeter with hi-speed wireless packet data access.

This means that air passengers, especially the IT professionals, can stay connected with the help of wi-fi. Although there are ‘hotspots’ across airports for internet access, BIAL wil be the first ever airport in South India to have a complete wi-fi system.

Sources at BIAL said: ‘‘The wi-fi system at BIAL will be launched shortly. The Request For Qualification (RFQ) of Service Providers is on process and the economics of wi-fi system will also be announced soon.’’

BIAL will deploy Industry Leading Solutions for Wi-Fi secure access very soon. In the first phase BIAL will deploy the wireless network perimeter access for passengers and airlines inside the Terminal building.

This service will have high-speed wireless packet data access and will be governed by centralised security policies(CSP), sources said.

‘‘CSP is a partnership that consists of integrated solutions where the service provider hired will be monitored by the BIAL for security reasons’’ added the sources.

Being the IT Capital of country, the wi-fienabled BIAL will truly serve the purpose of being the complete wi-fi airport with nonstop connectivity.

It may be noted that the Chatrapathi Shivaji International Airport at Mumbai is the only other airport that has been upgraded to provide free wi-fi services recently.