Bhubaneswar, Aug. 27: Everyone loves Wi-Fi, especially if it's free. And it's easy enough to locate the places in the city where you get it. Just watch out for groups of people glued to their smart phones and laptops sitting or standing by the road.

The one-month free Wi-Fi services are yet to be officially launched across the city, but it's been 15 days since the Internet service providers started it at several locations. Youngsters are making the most of it.

One can easily spot these locations in the city where groups of youths can be seen standing or sitting on the footpaths with smart phones and laptops. Many people are even driving up to these Wi-Fi zones to enjoy the service that can be availed of free for 30 minutes daily.

These groups are seen along the roads in and around Surya Nagar, especially on the road connecting Siripur Square to Ganga Nagar, near BMC Bhawani Mall, in and around Forest Park and Imfa Park in Saheed Nagar and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Park at Satsang Vihar and on the Utkal University campus.

"When I saw several people gathered at this spot and glued to their gadgets every day, I asked and got to know about the free service here. I tried it out too and told my friends about it," said Sushant Barik, a student, who was near Siripur with a group of people at a Wi-Fi hotspot. The number of users is increasing by the day in these zones.

What is attracting the users, apart from the fact that it is free, is the speed. "It's not only free, but also faster than any other service where we have to pay," said Jyoti Ranjan Mishra, a Plus Two student.

Apart from commuters who stop by and use the service, a large number of students at OUAT and Utkal University, as well as private hostels, are using the Wi-Fi facility to the fullest.

Since this is a trial run, the service providers and Software Technology Park of India (STPI) - the government body that works as a nodal agency for this project - are collecting feedback from users. The service providers mostly collect views from users online when they log in for the second time. Besides, a neutral consultant also collects opinions from some users who do not log in for second time.

This feedback would help in choosing the firm to be selected for providing the service. At present, Reliance Jionet provides the service at Surya Nagar, while Ortel is offering it at Saheed Nagar, Imfa Park, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Park and on Utkal University campus.

Airtel and Infratel jointly provide the free Wi-Fi service at Forest Park and in the airport area. The one-month phase will work as proof of concept for the Wi-Fi project in the city. The proof of concept is the demonstration of a potential product or service before its launch to assess its feasibility.

"Officially, it will be launched for a month shortly," said STPI director Manas Ranjan Panda.