NOIDA: Commuters on the Noida-Greater Noida expressway will soon be able to enjoy free Wi-Fi connectivity, with the Noida Authority planning to set up Wi-Fi spots on the expressway by March 15.

Noida Authority officials said the infrastructure installed for the Intelligent Traffic Management System will be used to roll out the public Wi-Fi on the 23.6km expressway. They said the rollout would be part of a pilot project, and if successful, it will be extended to other locations across Noida.

“The facility, which will allow people to browse the internet and download data while commuting on the expressway, will be in place by March 15, 2015. Work on this has already started,” said G P Singh, financial controller of Noida Authority.

“The idea is that even foreign tourists, who use the expressway to travel to Agra via the Yamuna expressway, should stay connected. Besides, Wi-Fi spots will lower traffic burden on telecom networks,” he said.

The Noida Authority had floated a similar idea in 2006, but the project was later shelved owing to technical glitches. Officials promised that this time there would be no such issues. “This time it is final. Wi-Fi access will be provided on the long stretch starting from the expressway entry near Mahamaya flyover, Amity Crossing and Pari Chowk,” said Singh.

Officials said 60,000 metres of optical fibre cable has already been laid out for the ITMS along the Noida-Greater Noida expressway. “We only need to put into place routers for speedy rollout of Wi-Fi. Routers will be connected to internet service providers,” explained Sandeep Chandra, senior project engineer of Noida. “At present, Noida is equipped with 3G, but 4G cables are being laid,” he said.