Free Wi-Fi at 25 monuments this year

The facility will be available free of cost for the first 30 minutes and thereafter, it is chargeable on the basis of additional usage.

The Archaeological Survey of India has finally identified 25 centrally-protected monuments to offer Wi-Fi this year. The facility will be available free of cost for the first 30 minutes and thereafter, it is chargeable on the basis of additional usage. The list includes Humayun’s Tomb, Qutab Complex and Red Fort in Delhi, Rani-ki-Vav in Gujarat’s Patan, Rock-cut temples in Himachal’s Masroor, Leh Palace in Jammu & Kashmir, the Hampi ruins in Karnataka, Elephanta Caves in Mumbai, Khajuraho temple in Madhya Pradesh, Sun Temple in Odisha, and the excavated site of Sarnath in Varanasi. 

Last month, Taj Mahal became the first monument in India to offer free Wi-Fi to tourists. The service, inaugurated by the Union minister for Information & Communications, Ravi Shankar Prasad, is currently being offered at 5G speed through various Wi-Fi hotspots created within the complex. BSNL has collaborated with a US-based company for providing the high-speed service, which is free for the first 30 minutes and afterwards, users pay Rs 30 for an hour. “The service at other monuments will be on the lines of the one being offered at Taj Mahal. Tourists will have options to choose from various easy subscription plans. For security purposes, they will have to feed in their mobile numbers and e-mails to the BSNL Wi-Fi network,” said an official from the Tourism Ministry. “With this facility, visitors can shoot videos and photos and upload them on social media in real time. This, along with the e-ticketing facility, will go a long way in increasing the footfall at our monuments,” added the official.