Connecting more people: on PM WANI

The Hindu     12th December 2020     Save    
QEP Pocket Notes

Context: Union Cabinet has recently approved Prime Minister wi-fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) which provides for public wi-fi- a low-cost option to reach unserved citizens and grow the economy.

PM-WANI: Bridging the digital divide

  • Features:
    • Ensuring last mile connectivity: Aims to bridge the divide using wireless technologies by enabling public wi-fi data service: through small retail data offices.
    • No need to obtain licenses: will help in creating new avenues of income for small entrepreneurs (e.g. tea sellers).
    • Cost-effective: Unlike upcoming mobile technologies such as 5G (high investment in the new spectrum, connectivity equipment and regular subscriber fees).
  • Advantages:
    • Economic benefits: TRAI noted that a 10% rise in net penetration led to a 1.4% increase in GDP.
    • Boosting transparency and interactivity: Internet access will also ease education, telehealth and agriculture extension, and bring greater accountability to government.
    • Complement data services sold by mobile telecom firms.
    • Improving internet penetration in rural India: Presently, 27.57 subscribers per 100 population in 2019.
    • Opens up opportunities: for community organisations, libraries, educational institutions, panchayats and small entrepreneurs to tap into a whole new ecosystem.
  • Way forward:
    • The government must ensure robust service: along with protection of data integrity, transparency on commercial use of data, and security against cyberattacks.
    • To prevent monopolies: The government must also ensure true unbundling of hardware, software, apps and payment gateways in the WANI system, as advocated by TRAI.

Conclusion: Executed properly, the Public Data Offices (PDOs) of PM WANI can do what the PCOs did for phone calls, going well beyond ‘ease of doing business’ to genuinely empower citizens.

QEP Pocket Notes