PM- WANI

In a bid to improve wireless connectivity, the Union Cabinet has approved the Prime Minister WiFi Access Network Interface (PM- WANI) which will focus on setting up public WiFi networks across the country.

The WiFi will be provided through public data offices (PDOs) for which there will be no licence, registration or any other fees.
The PDO, to be set up along the lines of a public calling office (PCO), can be a small shop; anyone can register as a PDO. The PDOs can either provide the internet on other own or lease it from other telecom and internet service providers.
The aggregators will provide services utilising telecom companies’ optical fibre network.
In addition to the PDOs, there will also be Public data office aggregators (PDOAs), which will look after the authorisation and accounting of PDOs.
App providers will also be part of this ecosystem, and will help in registering users and aid them in discovering nearby WANI-compliant Wi-Fi hotspots. Users, however, will not be required to download different apps, as a single app will provide seamless connectivity to any PDO across the country.

Though there will be no licence for PDOs, a simple registration system will be put in place for PDO aggregators as well as app providers, which will be approved within seven days of the application being submitted.
If the said application is not approved within seven days, it shall be deemed approved by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
A central registry, which will contain all the details of all the PDO, the PDO aggregators, and app providers will be maintained by the Centre for Development of Telematic (C-DOT).

The idea of a PDO was first floated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in 2017.
Six months later, it set up the initial pilot project for PDO, in which companies such as Facebook, and the government’s C-DOT had participated.
Like a PCO, the PDO allows users to connect to a public WiFi system for a limited session depending on the internet pack chosen by the user. These internet packages can either be charged on per minute or per hour basis by the PDOs.
In 2018, when Trai had floated the test model, it mooted that the users should be able to buy “sachet-sized” internet plans, that varied between Rs 2 and Rs 20, and can be used anytime.

In its report after conducting the tests, TRAI had said that in order to plug the gap of high speed and reliable broadband connectivity in rural and remote areas, public WiFi was one of the best ways.
TRAI also said that in most major economies, for 50 to 70 per cent of their total usage time, mobile users use WiFi technology to communicate. In India, this figure is less than 10 per cent. Therefore, there is a dire need to exploit WiFi technology also for delivering broadband services at affordable prices.
It recommended that to plug gaps in broadband connectivity, there should at least be 100 million public WiFi hotspots in the country by 2023.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the PM- WANI scheme will revolutionise the tech world and significantly improve WiFi availability across the length and breadth of India.
It will create millions of inter-operable Wi-Fi hotspots in the country and democratise content distribution and broadband access to millions at affordable rates.
It will further Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living. The scheme will enable small shopkeepers to provide WiFi service.
The scheme has the potential to boost incomes as well as ensure the youth gets seamless internet connectivity. It will also strengthen the Digital India mission.
Expansion of Wi-Fi networks will empower the rural citizen to exercise his free speech more effectively, apart from enhancing his right to enter e-commerce as a player and consumer. It has far reaching implications from a constitutional perspective.

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