Ease telecom regulations to enable Wi-Fi proliferation

Context: In India, well over 90% of users access the internet through mobile devices. PM-WANI could change this and expand internet access vastly once it’s easy for entrepreneurs to set up local Wi-Fi zones.

Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM Wani): Easing the access to the Internet

• Present status:
  • Terrestrial internet connectivity in India (and almost everywhere else in the world) is offered as a fully integrated service.
  • All the components of this service (Connections, Authentications, and the invoices) are packaged as one single offering provided by a licensed entity.
• PM-WANI: Features and expected benefits
  • Unbundles the different layers of internet service into its parts, reassembling them in an entirely different configuration to allow private entrepreneurs to deliver each of these components safely and securely that does not compromise the regulatory requirement of reliable user authentication.
  • App providers: Responsible for KYC & allow authenticated users to discover Wani-enabled hotspots.
  • Public Data Office (PDOs): private establishments such as Kirana stores, roadside shops and tea stalls—that will set up public Wi-Fi hotspots.
  • PDO aggregator (PDOA): aggregates PDOs and authenticates them on the network. Through this portal Wi-Fi services are made available to Wani customers.
  • Integration: Of PDOAs and payment service providers, allowing customers to purchase prepaid packages of their choice in much the same way as they buy any other online service.
  • Interoperability: Among the app provider the PDO and PDOA.
  • Employment: may unleash range of entrepreneurial opportunities at the edge of telecom networks.
  • Incentivize small businesses: to put in place the last mile of data connectivity.
• Way forward:
  • Liberalization of telecom regulations: Lift resale restrictions and allow PDOs, PDOAs and app providers to function with minimal regulatory oversight.

Conclusion: This new regime will have to be exempted from licence fees, as nothing dampens entrepreneurial enthusiasm like the hard reality of adjusted gross revenue-based licence fees.