Even after struggling to keep up with its schedule to expand the wireless internet (Wi-Fi) services in the jurisdiction of Pune Municipal Corporation, Microsense Pvt Ltd that is implementing the Unwire Pune project, will be going commercial with the service by August.

“The wi-fi service is available in five sq km of the city at present and we plan to expand it to 10 sq km within two months and make it commercial by August,” Sujit Singh, vice-president, Microsense, told The Indian Express.

The Unwire Pune project, first of its kind in the country, was launched in the city on April 1, 2007. The wireless connectivity is at present restricted to area on Jangli Maharaj Road, Bund Garden Road and Dhole-Patil Road.

The plan to go commercial with the service was originally scheduled for May, but it had to be postponed to cover a larger area, Singh said. The tariff for the commercial service is being worked out based on the rate at which the other landline service providers are providing the internet service in the city. The company plans to offer concessions for students and educational institutes.

The company initially plans to make available the commercial access to the service through online payment for which it has launched the website unwirepune.co.in and also through pre-paid coupons from the kiosks set up by PMC in parts of the city, he added.

“Microsense has been talking about the commercial launch of service since April, but has not conveyed to us details about the package and retail model for the commercial service,” PMC Chief Information Officer (CIO) Anupam Saraph, said.

He said the adoption of appropriate retail model is essential for the success of the project as it needs to have customer support and the requisite infrastructure to satisfy the end user.

At present, Microsense has no retail base in the city and the PMC has suggested that they forge links with other retail operators such as Airtel, Vodafone and BSNL.

“They have started discussions with the mobile service providers with retail outlets in the city and hopefully things will work out soon,” Saraph said.

However, Singh clarified that the Microsense would not tie up with any other company for retail service and will go it on its own.

“We have asked the company to make available the wireless internet service in each of the 144 PMC wards as without this the service will not make any sense,” Saraph said adding the customer would be happy only if he is available to access it various locations in the city.

To make it more viable, the PMC has also suggested incorporating value added services such as providing traffic updates on some of the busy roads.