Pune, October 20: The country’s first open air WiFi Internet zone, started on a trial basis at MG Road, has finally come to a grinding halt. With the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) failing to take a firm stand on the issue, technology provider HOL Infosolutions discontinued services earlier this month.

This comes even after the WiFi trials were extended by three months on PCB’s request for more time to decide on the issue. Earlier, PCB had requested BSNL to provide free Internet connectivity for the 2 mbps WiFi zone for a period of three months, while it carried out a feasibility report on making it a permanent feature. But no report has been presented before the board .

“We had to remove the three access points two weeks ago. Before taking down the service, we met PCB authorities who assured that a decision would be taken soon, but no one came back to us,” HOL’s implementation officer Dheeraj Doiphode said. He said HOL was interested in continuing the service if it got support from an Internet service provider.

While officials say that a formal decision on the issue will be taken by this month-end, sources claim that the chances of PCB taking over the WiFi zone are bleak. “The number of users availing the facility on MG Road is very low though WiFi was provided free of cost during the trials. It will be financially unviable for PCB to take it on,” a PCB official said.

However, PCB is looking at other models, like roping in service providers to run the zone, where it will not have a financial commitment, the official added.