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).