article: The sleepy and nondescript town of 40,000 people ringed by farms sees activity only around its bus stand. Just a couple of trains arrive at its deserted railway station every day. But this unremarkable place, 275km (170 miles) from the Indian capital, Delhi, is in news these days: it is the first town in India to offer full and cheap wi-fi coverage. A few cities in India - Bangalore, Pune, Cochin, Delhi - have some public free wi-fi hotspots, but their impact is low. From the bus stand and railway station to the streets and town market, the residents of Bhadra are now connected to the internet. I tested it along the length of the town and experienced a seamless connection. Local businessman Dalit Kumar Jain says he is pleased that he can now quickly download full-length movies on his phone and conduct business-related online money transfers. The facility is a success among the students, who no longer have to rush to the main town of Hanumangarh, 160km (100 miles) away, for online lessons, job applications and alerts. The number of training centres for job tests has gone up in Bhadra after wi-fi arrived here in July. Students of the local secondary school say they download exam test papers from the internet, and spend a lot of time on online games, and social media. For a place which had just a few internet connections a few months ago, Bhadra is a good example of how cheap and speedy wi-fi can change people's lives - 1GB of data only costs 64 rupees (98 cents; 64p) every month. Sandeep Yadav of MTS India, a Rajasthan-based company responsible for providing the facility, describes small, developing towns like Bhadra as the "nerve-centres of aspirational India". "Even the residents of small towns are now learning to use data and smart phones. A place like Bhadra accounts for 160GB of data usage every day. This is why we think that a certain amount of free bandwidth would really benefit the inhabitants." The company plans to roll out wi-fi services in 11 more small towns in the state. Shaukat Khan has a shop opposite the bus stand which is often crowded, because it sells coupons for the service. "So what if this is a small town? Around 8,500 people hailing from Bhadra work in the Middle East, which means there is a lot of demand for video calling and recharging. With so many living abroad, people look for ways to keep in touch," he says. Local resident Rabindra Yadav says even three years ago, residents often couldn't get a decent mobile phone connection, and overseas calls to a Gulf country like Muscat would cost 30 cents per minute. But youngsters in the town say that the wi-fi "revolution" is bypassing their parents and elders. "We need to do something about it. So I am saving up to buy my mother a smartphone during the upcoming Diwali festival," says 16-year-old Lakshmi.
summary: Bhadra is an outlier in the Indian state of Rajasthan, better known for its forts and palaces and wide swathes of desert.