Facebook to help BSNL set up 100 rural Wi-Fi hotspots

Boosting the government’s ambitious ‘Digital India’ drive, social media giant Facebook has come forward to facilitate state-run BSNL in setting up 100 Wi-Fi sites in rural areas of western and southern India.

Facebook will spend Rs 5 crore per annum for sponsoring these 100 Wi-Fi hotspots in the country. “Facebook has partnered with us to sponsor 100 Wi-Fi hotspots in villages across west and southern India.

They will pay Rs 5 lakh for BSNL bandwidth for each hotspot per annum,” BSNL chairman & MD, Anupam Shrivastava said.

The hotspots are being set up by BSNL-selected vendor Quad Zen.

“We have already set up 25 hotspots under the agreement. Facebook is only sponsoring them and not taking any revenue share.

Quad Zen will set up these hotspots and handle sales.

There is revenue share model between BSNL and Quad Zen,” Shrivastava said. When contacted, Facebook spokesperson said, “We don’t have any comments at this point of time.”

The agreement between Facebook and BSNL is for three years and it can be further extended for two more years, he said.

BSNL has also received interest from Member of Parliaments for setting up Wi-Fi hotspots in villages which they have adopted under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) to make it a model village by 2016.

“Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Najma Heptulla and Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan are sponsoring BSNL bandwidth for Wi-Fi hotspots in the villages that they have adopted under SAGY. BSNL approached MPs explaining this model under MPLAD scheme and over 50 MPs have responded positively to it,” Shrivastava said.

He said that the sponsored Wi-Fi spots are being set-up in addition to 2,500 Wi-Fi spots that BSNL is setting up in partnership with Quad Zen and Trimax.
“With Facebook and MPs coming forward, we are being able to set up Wi-Fi hotspots in area where it is not commercially feasible to run them. We are quickly extending optical fibre connectivity to these hotspots,” Shrivastava said.

Under commercial model, Quad Zen will set up 2,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in West and Southern part of the country and Trimax will set up 500 hotspots in North India.

Press Trust Of India

Follow Me on Twitter>>> @iamBhavish
And like us on Facebook>>> The Gud1

Uber partners with Bharti Airtel to offer free in-car Wi-Fi, payments via Airtel Money

This news is kind off old now, But I have to do my job... So here's a summary of what's happening.

In its latest announcement, Uber reveals to have teamed up with Bharti Airtel, allowing users to pay via Airtel Money.

In addition, users in Mumbai can also enjoy free high-speed Internet from Uber powered by Airtel. Starting with Mumbai, the free Wi-Fi will then be rolled out to other cities.

“Our partnership with Uber is directly in line with our commitment to offer innovative and relevant services for our customers. Now, Uber riders can enjoy the convenience of paying through their Airtel Money wallets, while also experiencing the power of blazing internet speeds with Airtel 4G on the move. We are excited that Uber has chosen Airtel to fulfill its telecom needs, and look forward to supporting the company’s rapid growth across India”, said telSrini Gopalan, Director – Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel.

Those already using ‘Airtel Money ‘will have to select “Payment” from the menu in the Uber app, tap ‘add payment’ and then tap on ‘Airtel Money’ to add to your account. Users can then select Airtel Money as the payment method when taking a ride.

The integration with Airtel Money will offer up to Rs 500 for free t new Uber riders who top up their Airtel Money wallet. Uber also plans to offer exclusive promotions, discounts and experiences to Airtel customers including Rs 500 off their first ride upon using Airtel Money.

Follow Me on Twitter>>> @iamBhavish
And like us on Facebook>>> The Gud1