The PM-WANI(Prime Minister WiFi access Network Interface) scheme is ready to completely transform India’s digital public infrastructure.
News Jungal desk: It is launched by Department of Telecom(DoT) in Dec 2020 to strengthen the penetration of public WiFi hotspots and establish a robust digital communication infrastructure throughout the nation, including remote areas.
This framework is in alignment with National Digital Communication Policy(NDCP), 2018 to establish digital public infrastructure in India.
PM-WANI Ecosystem:
It has four elements.
Public Data Office(PDO):
It establishes, maintains and operates public wifi hotspot.
It provides last mile connectivity to the users by procuring internet bandwidth from telecom service providers.
Public Data Office Aggregator(PDOA):
It provides aggregation services such as authorization and accounting to PDO’s.
App Provider:
It develops an application to register and authenticate potential users and display PM-WANI complaints and wifi hotspot in proximity for accessing the internet services.
Central Registry:
It maintains the detail of PDO’s, pdoa’S and App providers.
As of Nov. 2022, PM-WANI central registry reported the existence of 188 PDO’s, 109 App providers and 11,50,394 public wifi hotspots.
Challenges:
Establishing PM-WANI in rural and remote areas with low internet demand and high operational costs could be challenging.
Due to PM-WANI’s affordability and accessibility, mobile telecom companies might face challenges such as market share and revenue loss.
Security threats such as, data leakage, hacking and malware can jeopardize users and data provider’s internet privacy.
Way Forward:
PM-WANI can be game changer for India’s digital public infrastructure.
It can democratise internet access and bridge the digital divide by enabling anyone to become a wifi provider and anyone to become a wifi user, without any licence, registration or fee.
Leverage the existing physical and social; infrastructure such as, CSCs, post offices, schools, panchayats to create a distributed and decentralized network of wifi hotspots.
Also utilize the existing digital infrastructure sucha as aadhar, UPI, e-KYC e-sign etc to enable seamless and secure authentication and payment of wifi services.
Empower the citizens and communities by providing them to access the information, knowledge, opportunities and services that can improve their quality of life and also enable them to contribute in digital economy and society.
Read also: NITI Aayog and Progress of Rural India…