Times of India

PANAJI, My 7: You will have wireless access to the worldwide web much sooner than you expected. Telecom giant BSNL will bring the WiMAX technology to the state's more populous areas within six months from now.

The technology will help you access the internet, without using cables, in select zones spread all over the state. WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) now allows wire-free use of broadband services across the globe. Goa, after WiMAX arrives, will join the league of cities like Atlanta, San Francisco, London and Stuttgart (and Bangalore in India).

BSNL plans to include Goa's important urban areas - Panaji, Margao, Verna, Ponda, Mapusa, Vasco and Porvorim - in the WiMAX network. Other places frequented by tourists - the airport, the more popular beaches and major railway stations - will also be brought within the umbrella. "Tourists are generally technology-savvy and use the internet to stay in touch with home," a senior BSNL official explained. "It will change the way people access internet," BSNL Goa general manager G R Ravi said. "We will try to roll out this service in six months," he added.

WiMAX uses microwave radio frequency instead of cables with the aid of the Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). It is the size of a land-line telephone and can be lugged along so that you can access the worldwide web, wire-free, at both home and office or your friend's place on a weekend (provided all these places are within the WiMAX umbrella).