Punjab CM inaugurates free WiFi facility for Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur and Murree
Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif has inaugurated the free WiFi service in different cities of Punjab. Initially available in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Multan, the availability would be expanded to Bahawalpur, Faisalabad and Murree very soon.
These wifi hotspots will be available at different locations including bus stops, train, or other spots of public interest. The service aims to bridge the digital divide with more than 200 hotspots have been deployed at all public places in 6 cities.
The announcement was made by Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif at inauguration ceremony of the project in the event at Arfa Software Technology Park.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony CM Punjab said that government is also providing technology equipped laboratories in 5,000 schools, along with 50,000 tablets, which were being distributed to students.
The project was initially planned for Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan with plans for expand the project into other cities in the coming years.
Punjab government and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) has now officially announced the details of location across the province where free WiFi access can be provided. The service is currently offered in Lahore, Multan, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Murree and Gujar Khan.
It must be noted here that almost 250 wifi routers have already been installed at different locations in Lahore. These Hotspot routers have been installed in all Metro bus stations, Allama Iqbal International Airport, Greater Iqbal Park, Lahore Zoo, Jalo Park, Anarkali, City Bus Station, Gaddafi Stadium, Model Town Park, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, National Bank Park, Linear Park, Jilani Park and Lahore Zoo Safari.
According to Director Information Technology – PITB Sajjad Ghani, “Users will be authenticated by their ID and mobile numbers, after which they will receive a code via SMS to connect to the internet. We will avoid data hogging by making the internet subscription time barred and are still deciding the exact duration of the subscription as well as which websites will be accessible through this Wi-Fi.
We will only keep time and location logs so we are able to check them in case of any terrorist activities. But browsing history and user data will not be saved or stored.”
PITB has also launched an app for Android devices which can alert you when a free WiFi access-point is nearby. The app can be downloaded here.