Pune: Shoppers visiting M.G. Road will soon be able to check email, conduct e-transactions and make internet phone calls for free.

After recently becoming the first experimental vehicle-free walking plaza in the city, M.G. Road is set to become the first wi-fi street of Pune.

The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) is considering a proposal to provide free wireless internet access, telephony and video streaming in the area, as an add-on to its walking plaza experiment.

Shopkeepers and residents in turn could use the wi-fi network to enjoy free telephony among themselves or set up security camera networks for security. TNN Wi-fi network on MG Road will cost just Rs 2,000.

Citizens will soon be able to latch on to the wi-fi network using their existing computers by adding an attachment worth roughly Rs 2,000 on M.G. Road in Pune Camp.

The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) is considering a proposal to provide wireless internet access, internet telephony and video streaming in the walking plaza area, as an add-on to its walking plaza experiment.

"All we require is permission to install wi-fi access points atop three existing electric poles. Each access point will serve 1,000 surfers across 15 separate channels at a time" described Taskeen Khan, Chief Technology Officer, HOL Infosolutions, while offering a 90-day wi-fi trial.

Like a cellular service, the wi-fi network will be run from a local controlling cell. The range of each access point is 5 km, but it may be affected by the number of buildings and structures coming between the user and the access point.

The HOL Infosolutions offer comes on the heels of the Pune Municipal Corporation announcing its plans to make the entire city wirefree from Hinjewadi to Wagholi. In fact, the company has also made a proposal to the PMC and its Pimpri-Chinchwad counterpart.

The HOL Infosolution proposal was discussed at a special meeting convened by the PCB to discuss the vision for the walking plaza. A separate presentation from the point of heritage conservation, tourism promotion and pollution control, was also made by Sanjay Deshpande, Co-convenor, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).