WiMax to unwire Bangalore for seamless connectivity

WiMax to unwire Bangalore for seamless connectivity

New Indian Express

BANGALORE: India's silicon hub Bangalore is all set to become the country's first tech city to be unwired with WiMax technology providing seamless integrated digital connectivity, a top official said here on Thursday.

"Keeping pace with the latest technologies in convergence, we are moving from Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) to WiMax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) for providing last mile wireless broadband access in place of cable and DSL (digital signal link)," Karnataka principal secretary (IT) Anup K Pujari told reporters.

In the run-up to the upcoming Bangalore IT in 2006 event next month, where WiMax equipment would be deployed on a pilot basis, the State Government has sent RFPs (request for proposals) to five vendors, short-listed from 13 companies that showed expression of interest (EoI).

"The Rs.200-million project covering the city and its peripheral areas will be executed by K-BITS (Karnataka Biotechnology & Information Technology Society), a nodal agency of the IT department, under the supervision of IIIT-B (Indian Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore) director S Sadagopan.

"Once we receive the RFPs, the nodal agency will select two-three of the short listed vendors to award the contract, scheduled to be completed in the next 12 months. To achieve economies of scale and greater reach in terms of density, a flexible tariff will be reached for providing the last-mile connectivity," Pujari said.

Though WiMax is not a technology per se, the term is used to certify the high-tech equipment that meets the IEEE 802.16 standard, set by WiMax Forum for conformity and interoperability. It is a notch above Wi-Fi, whose equipment is based on 802.11 standard and used for wireless local area networks (WLAN).