Tata Comm, Tomizone tie up to offer Wi-Fi Internet

In a move that will usher a Wi-Fi revolution in the country, Tata Communications Internet Services has tied up with Australia-based Wi-Fi zone solutions provider Tomizone to offer low-cost Internet to subscribers in India.

The partnership would allow Tata Indicom broadband customers to set up Wi-Fi hotspots at their premises instantly, the company said.

Users can also utilise their unused bandwidth by offering it to others for which they will get credit (of internet surfing time) on their account, which would subsidise the cost of broadband connection.

"There is a need for higher penetration of Wi-Fi hotspots where laptop and Wi-Fi enabled-device users can connect to the Internet. Currently there are less than 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in India with Tata Indicom Wi-Fi having a share of over 50 per cent. Through this partnership, the number of such hotspots can grow manifold in a much shorter time," TCIS chief operating officer Prateek Pashine said.

India has one of the lowest broadband penetration rate in the world at about 0.6 per cent with 6.62 million subscribers as of June 2009.

Tomizone will offer low cost Wi-Fi Internet access through an interconnected network. "We will usher in a Wi-Fi revolution that can create thousands of hotspots and enable lakhs of users to access blistering Internet on Wi-Fi technology in a more ubiquitous manner than today," Pashine said.