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India Gazette
24-06-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Wi-Fi segment to be worth $22 billion by 2035 in India: Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia
New Delhi [India], June 24 (ANI): Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, Jyotiraditya Scindia, in his keynote address at the World Wi-Fi Day Conference organised by the Broadband India Forum, stated that Wi-Fi will be a $22 billion segment in India by 2035, playing a transformative role in the nation's digital journey. Describing Wi-Fi as 'an invisible force capable of powering visible change,' Scindia hailed India's rapid strides in digital inclusion, noting that India now contributes 46 per cent of global digital transactions. He emphasised that connectivity is no longer a luxury, but a fundamental tool of empowerment, akin to access to capital and infrastructure in previous eras. 'Wi-Fi is not just about internet access; it's about widespread inclusion in India in the future. Every hotspot must become a hope spot,' said Scindia, outlining a vision for grassroots entrepreneurship driven by affordable devices, ubiquitous networks, and deregulated spectrum. He underscored Prime Minister Modi's vision behind PM-WANI (Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) as a game-changer that democratises digital access, especially in villages. Citing the success of India's low-cost data model, Rs 9 per GB compared to the global average of $2.49, he praised India's leadership in telecom affordability. Highlighting the recent de-licensing of the 6 GHz spectrum, the Minister said this move will enable multi-gigabit speeds and low-cost digital highways across India. Policy rules for the same will be announced before Independence Day 2025, he added. Scindia also called on industry stakeholders to innovate for affordable devices, ensuring that hardware does not become the next barrier to connectivity. 'Connectivity is not a commodity; it is an act of nation-building,' he concluded, urging collective commitment to light up every rural home, empower every aspiring mind, and fortify public services with the power of Wi-Fi. (ANI)
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Business Standard
24-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Wi-Fi segment to be worth $22 bn by 2035 in India: Jyotiraditya Scindia
Highlighting the recent de-licensing of the 6 GHz spectrum, the Minister said this move will enable multi-gigabit speeds and low-cost digital highways across India ANI General News Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, Jyotiraditya Scindia, in his keynote address at the World Wi-Fi Day Conference organised by the Broadband India Forum, stated that Wi-Fi will be a $22 billion segment in India by 2035, playing a transformative role in the nation's digital journey. Describing Wi-Fi as "an invisible force capable of powering visible change," Scindia hailed India's rapid strides in digital inclusion, noting that India now contributes 46 per cent of global digital transactions. He emphasised that connectivity is no longer a luxury, but a fundamental tool of empowerment, akin to access to capital and infrastructure in previous eras. "Wi-Fi is not just about internet access; it's about widespread inclusion in India in the future. Every hotspot must become a hope spot," said Scindia, outlining a vision for grassroots entrepreneurship driven by affordable devices, ubiquitous networks, and deregulated spectrum. He underscored Prime Minister Modi's vision behind PM-WANI (Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) as a game-changer that democratises digital access, especially in villages. Citing the success of India's low-cost data model, Rs 9 per GB compared to the global average of $2.49, he praised India's leadership in telecom affordability. Highlighting the recent de-licensing of the 6 GHz spectrum, the Minister said this move will enable multi-gigabit speeds and low-cost digital highways across India. Policy rules for the same will be announced before Independence Day 2025, he added. Scindia also called on industry stakeholders to innovate for affordable devices, ensuring that hardware does not become the next barrier to connectivity. "Connectivity is not a commodity; it is an act of nation-building," he concluded, urging collective commitment to light up every rural home, empower every aspiring mind, and fortify public services with the power of Wi-Fi. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Trai caps connectivity costs of public Wi-Fi providers
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi: The telecom regulator has capped broadband connectivity costs of public Wi-Fi service providers at double the rates of home broadband services, setting aside all objections from telcos, with an aim to boost internet accessibility under the Prime Minister's Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) intiative."Every service provider providing retail FTTH (wired) broadband services shall offer all of its retail FTTH broadband plans up to 200 Mbps to the PDOs ( public data offices , which offer Wi-Fi services) under the PM-WANI scheme, at tariff not exceeding twice the tariff applicable to the retail subscribers for the corresponding FTTH broadband plan of the bandwidth (capacity) offered," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said in its tariff order issued on move aims to significantly boost the number of public Wi-Fi hotspots under PM-WANI, which is nowhere near the target set at the launch of the scheme in 2020-creating 10 million public Wi-Fi hotspots by 2022 and 50 million by on April 30, there were only 278,801 deployed PM-WANI Wi-Fi hotspots in the country. Trai said the proposed tariff framework takes into account prevailing market scenarios, current levels of adoption of PM-WANI service, and the potential future major objectives of the PM-WANI initiative include providing high-speed and affordable internet access in rural and underserved areas as well as in public spaces such as railway stations, banks and post shopkeepers, retailers and chaiwalas were encouraged to become public Wi-Fi providers, or PDOs, for last-mile internet delivery without the need of a permit or registration operators had argued that lowering broadband connectivity costs would allow PDOs to make unjustified profits, riding on telcos' expensive network infrastructure and denting their revenue. But the regulator has argued that the high rates demanded by telcos are the primary reason for low demand for PDO licences under the PM-WANI noted that in the name of commercial agreement, telecom and internet service providers often pushed public Wi-Fi providers to connect the access points using the expensive internet leased line (ILL), instead of the regular wired broadband connection, popularly called home tariff cap will apply to all fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) plans up to 200 Mbps offered by the service providers to the per Trai, the pricing framework has been designed to appropriately balance the interests of all stakeholders by ensuring affordability for small PDOs while also providing reasonable compensation for the broadband connection to the service providers.
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
TRAI prescribes cap for tariffs charged to PDOs under PM-WANI scheme
Telecom regulator TRAI on Monday prescribed a tariff framework for the PM-WANI scheme, capping the connectivity rates offered by various service providers to Public Data Offices (PDOs) at up to twice the tariffs applicable to retail subscribers of Fiber to the Home (FTTH) broadband plans. Telecom and internet service providers at times require PDOs to connect public Wi-Fi access points using expensive Internet Leased Lines, in the name of commercial agreements. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said the new pricing framework has been designed to "appropriately balance the interests of all stakeholders" by ensuring affordability for small-scale Public Data Offices (PDOs) while also providing reasonable compensation for the broadband connection to the service providers. Essentially, the Prime Minister's Wi-Fi Access Network Interface or PM-WANI framework aims to drive the proliferation of internet services by setting up public Wi-Fi Hotspots in the country. Under the PM-WANI framework, Public Data Offices (PDOs) establish, operate and maintain WANI-compliant Wi-Fi Hotspots and deliver internet services to subscribers. PDOs need to partner with a Public Data Office Aggregator (PDOA) to deliver internet services; PDOAs act as aggregators and perform the functions relating to authorisation and accounting. Live Events "To ensure a balanced and inclusive approach, TRAI prescribes the following tariff framework for the PM-WANI service provider providing retail Fiber to the Home (FTTH) broadband services shall offer all of its retail FTTH broadband plans upto 200 Mbps to the PDOs under the PM-WANI scheme, at a tariff not exceeding twice the tariff applicable to the retail subscribers for the corresponding FTTH broadband plan of the bandwidth (capacity) offered," according to TRAI. Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had reached out to TRAI highlighting that the proliferation of the PM-WANI scheme was significantly below envisaged targets. Among the reasons cited for this low proliferation of PM-WANI was the high cost of internet connectivity charged by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). It was also stated that TSPs and ISPs often required Public Data Offices (PDOs) to connect public Wi-Fi access points using expensive Internet Leased Lines under the name of commercial agreements, TRAI noted. "In this regard, TRAI issued the Draft Telecommunication Tariff (70th Amendment) Order, 2024, on August 23, 2024, proposing that the tariff for broadband services provided to PDOs under the PM-WANI scheme aligned with retail broadband Fiber to the Home (FTTH) tariffs," the release said.
