Telecom Lead India: The Maharashtra State Road Transport (MSRTC) will install Wi-Fi in 100 Shivneri AC Volvo buses connecting Mumbai to Pune.
Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will inaugurate the service this week.
The free Wi-Fi network will be provided in 100 Shivneri buses from Dadar to Pune via satellite link-up, and can be accessed on laptop, or iPad, and smartphones, such as Android, BlackBerry and iPhones.
According to a recent survey by the MSRTC, 45 percent travelers between Mumbai and Pune are IT / BPO and software professionals, who have been demanding Wi-Fi facility in buses.
The buses will also be fitted with LCD screens and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras with digital video recorders.
The MSRTC will also install GPS system in all Shivneri buses to monitor the movement of the vehicles from a central control room.
The Wi-Fi, CCTV, GPS and LCD screens are being installed free of cost in lieu of advertising rights given to a company in the AC buses, Times of India reported today.
The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corp. has been running Volvo buses with free Wi-Fi facility for the past few years. The AC Volvo buses, which have tablets with touch panels on the back of every seat, ply mostly on the routes to the airport.
The railways is also planning to install Wi-Fi in the Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen.
The railways have already begun a pilot project on free Wi-Fi internet in the Kolkata Rajdhani.
editor@telecomlead.com
