One of the challenges facing India for last mile connectivity to homes and offices is the strangle hold that the government owned telcos (BSNL and MTNL) have. While both are now pushing DSL to the home, the pace of deployment is not as rapid as India needs. In this context, what is interesting are the plans by many cities in the US to deploy wireless networks to provide a blanket of connectivity. This has two implications for India: first, we should be looking at similar technologies and plans; and second, the US deployment (along with usage in other international cities) will drive the cost of equipment lower making it much more affordable. Given India's lack of legacy network infrastructure, city Wi-Fi networks make a lot of sense.

Recently, even as San Francisco announced that Google and Earthlink had won the bid to provide Wi-Fi across the city, Intel announced that it is working with Pune Municipal Corporation towards building the first Wi-Fi Indian city.

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