Indian Government Plans To Deploy A Public Wi-Fi Netowrk Across The Country

Dhir Acharya - Jul 17, 2019

Today, if you are on the street, you will have to use mobile data. So what if you there’s a Wi-Fi network that you can connect to wherever you go?

Today, if you are on the street instead of a coffee shop, at home, or somewhere you can use Wi-Fi, you will have to use mobile data which you have to pay money for. So what if you there’s a Wi-Fi network that you can connect to wherever you go?

This is what the Indian government is planning to do in the country, with a model named Bharat Wi-Fi. It looks like they are not only thinking about multiple public networks but may also make them interoperable so that Indians can connect to them automatically.

The-Indian-government-is-considering-a-public-Wi-Fi-network-1 — The Indian government is considering a public Wi-Fi network

According to information from an official source, the Digital Communications Commission will consider the proposal at the next meeting it holds. The meeting was supposed to take place yesterday it was deferred.

The source stated that the commission is considering giving interoperability to public Wi-Fi. With this, people will be able to maintain the connection to all public Wi-Fi around the country every time they get in its range. A person with a mobile device has to log in only once, then other networks like Jio, Airtel, BSNL, etc., will recognize their device and automatically connect to it.

At the moment, users in India have to sign in to a public Wi-Fi network and enter their cellphone numbers. Then, they will receive an OTP, enter it to connect, and each time you want to connect to the Internet, you have to repeat this process from the beginning. However, the proposal for Bharat Wi-Fi suggests interlinking all the logins for all wireless networks, which means users will have to log in only once.

With-Bharat-Wi-Fi-people-can-use-the-Internet-anywhere-across-India-2 — With Bharat Wi-Fi, people can use the Internet anywhere across India

This proposal is another move under 2018's National Digital Communications Policy where the Indian government attempts to, by 2020, set up 5 million public Wi-Fi hotspots, and ten million by 2022.

As stated by the source, the government is focusing on encouraging data innovation as well as providing digital governance. With interoperable Wi-Fi, mobile users will be able to use the Internet regardless of where they are in the country. This will not only take away the load from license spectrum but also improve call quality and limit call drops.