By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Union Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology, Sachin pilot, on Thursday inaugurated the WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) high-speed Internet service at Umiam and Sohra, through video conferencing from Kolkata.
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas and just like 3G services which are bundled basically for the mobile phone and data card which actually requires a SIM, the Wimax is also wireless based and requires a device called CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) which can then be connected to a desktop computer or a laptop.
Speaking though video conferencing, Pilot said, “The progress for the WiMAX has been slow but it has benefited lot of people.”
Earlier, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and Mawprem legislator Manas Chaudhuri had inaugurated the WiMAX services at Ampati Sub-Divisional Office (Civil) in Garo Hills and Laitkor in East Khasi Hills respectively.
According to Pilot, the services should be expanded to rural areas so as to improve wireless connectivity even in these far flung areas.
“Young people should also be educated about and encouraged to use these services,” he added while addressing the gathering from Kolkata.
The present series of WiMAX services in the State is for rural deployment and 28 places have been allocated in the first phase. BSNL would be delivering maximum speed of 5 mbps for the rural users.
It is learnt that the WiMAX service would cater to a radius of 15 kms from the tower. However in hilly areas the reach may become less due to the topography.
Later, Senior GMTD BSNL, Meghalaya, GS Marshall, also informed that the service would be inaugurated in the remaining 28 sites within March this year.