A few months back, the Prime Minister of India announced a scheme to connect every household with free Wi-Fi. It is an excellent scheme and one that was envisioned by the people of India long ago.
But as anyone who has tried to log in to Facebook or Google or Twitter, or any other web service will tell you, many obstacles are blocking you from accessing the world’s information in one-click clicks.
To make this happen, we need a secure public Wi-Fi network that works on all major telecom operators (AT&T, BSNL, Vodaphone, Airtel) integrated with the Internet.
We need it to work everywhere in India and every corner of the country. We need it to be cheap enough for ordinary people to use (and most importantly – without compromising security). We need it to be accessible by business users and ordinary citizens alike. And if we can provide even more features than those listed above – I’m sure we could build them!
PM WANI: Public Wi-Fi Access in India
PM WANI is a public Wi-Fi access project in India that aims to connect remote areas with Wi-Fi networks.
The project was started in New Delhi, India, and aims to expand to other cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai. The company has also partnered with various telecom operators to provide access in these cities.
The project is expected to help improve Internet connectivity in remote areas of the country by providing Wi-Fi access at around 3G speeds.
PM WANI: A Strategy to Broadband Internet, Revenue, and Employment Growth
The plan is simple: The government will pay for the construction of Wi-Fi networks for government employees and the general public. There are plenty of companies looking to enter this market, historically dominated by telecom operators. For example, there’s a startup called Voxtel (which I lost interest in due to its consumer-focused approach). It’s working on an app that allows people to connect their smartphones to Wi-Fi networks.
The company says it will allow people to connect directly to the network without requiring them to pay extra money. A web service will be used to manage the connection process.
The initial rollout will be in Delhi, followed by a few more cities in India. It’s unclear if they’ll go after government contracts or use the open Wi-Fi network infrastructure that exists and get it up and running themselves. This is a scheme that I think could work very well in India (and often here).
This is the kind of thing that should happen — both as part of a larger, larger scheme and as a result of just getting started with this project itself. There are many things that can be done with public Wi-Fi networks: people can use them for business meetings or meetings with clients; schools and colleges can use them for education; airports can provide access to people who need it — arguably any number of groups could have access at one time or another, regardless of where they are located. In India, there may not be enough infrastructure (for instance), but when there is infrastructure available, there should be someone who has built it (or is willing to build it) — even if it was never intended for specific use by others.
PM WANI: A Possible Path to a Digital India
This is a proposal for a proposed PM Wi-Fi scheme for internet access in India. The scheme would allow users to connect to the Wi-Fi hotspots of the prime minister, homes of important persons and institutions, public places, and other locations via a mobile device. The service will be made available free of cost or a nominal charge.
The scheme would benefit the government because it would help to improve internet connectivity in the country. However, it will also help to improve the quality of life of people in the country who are living far away from Wi-Fi hotspots or whose mobile devices do not meet certain conditions.
India has a large population that has not been able to access broadband internet at home or office due to difficulties in getting a connection or due to lack of sufficient infrastructure and connectivity. In fact, as recently as June 2015, according to an infrastructure report by IPEAM Technologies Pvt Ltd, only 15% of India’s population had access to broadband internet at home, and 10% had access at an office (this was down from 40% in 2014).
The government has therefore made it mandatory for all telecom operators (including Reliance Jio) which offer mobile connections (in addition to fixed-line connections) since November 2014 — under section 7(2) of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Order No. 1/2014/UPU — for all telecom service providers (SATS), ISPs and other intermediaries acquire an aggregated speed of at least 50 Mbps on their networks over 4G LTE technology by June 2016. This is expected to be achieved through the implementation of ultra-fast 5G technology by 2026 (and possibly sooner).
The government has also allocated an additional spectrum for LTE within the 700 MHz bands, which operators can use with a certain schedule depending on their network characteristics. It is envisaged that if these operators are able to meet these requirements, they will be able to offer ultra-fast 5G services across its entire footprint within five years time period after starting commercial operations; this, however, remains unconfirmed so far but it will depend on various factors such as availability of infrastructure etc., and each operator will have its own policy-related reasons for not complying with this requirement.
The project is expected to help reduce the cost per user from Rs 860 ($1340 USD) per month ($1250 AUD) currently paid by telecom operators during peak hours in the 2014-15 period alone in terms that could reach Rs 150 ($241 USD).
Conclusion
Earlier this week, a proposal was submitted to the Election Commission by the Indian government that would make it easier for public Wi-Fi networks to be set up throughout India. The proposed rules have been in the works for some time, but now may be doable thanks to the efforts of Wikipedia and some other pro-Wikipedia organizations. By providing access to such networks, third parties can offer services like video streaming, file sharing, digital music, etc. But it’s not just about offering access; they want to also facilitate the use of such networks by others (this is known as “shared Wi-Fi”).
In summary, what they want is:
- (1) Making it easier for anyone who wants to set up a public Wi-Fi network in India to do so using existing infrastructure, without the need for licenses or permits. The regulatory burden on users will be reduced significantly.
- (2) A way for users of such networks to share their information with each other. This could include sharing contact information and information about how much time each person uses the service (so that people who are highly interested in a particular program can help grow its user base).
- (3) Away for content providers (such as broadcasters) and operators (such as hotels) to collaborate on content distribution, sharing data about users and revenue generation through advertising.
The proposal improves upon existing laws regarding public Wi-Fi by:
- Allowing more people — including those who are not technically qualified — access a network without any license or registration requirement.
- Limiting regulations on data transmission and storing data in order to maximize revenue rather than impose high costs on users. In fact, letting everyone who wants access set up their own network means there will be no limit on how much revenue operators can make from advertising. Since this would not increase costs per user at all (and hence reduce ISP profits), there will be minimal cost pressures on operators, making them more willing to spend money on marketing their services instead of trying to control them (which they currently cannot do).
- Allowing businesses making use of shared Wi-Fi networks — again including those who aren’t technically qualified — an incentive mechanism so that they can take advantage of shareholders looking for ways of increasing profits instead of trying desperately to control them (since these businesses will have no real influence over users).