Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

• In a bid to improve wireless connectivity, the Union Cabinet approved setting up of the public WiFi was part of the Prime Minister WiFi Access Network Interface (PM- WANI).

 

 

 

Key Features

• The Public Data Office will maintain, establish and operate WANI compliant Wi-Fi Access points. These PDOs will deliver broadband services to subscribers.
• The Public Data Office Aggregators are to perform the functions of accounting and authorisation.
• The Application provider is to develop an app to register users. It will discover WANI compliant Wi-Fi hotspots in the nearby areas.
• The Central Registry is to maintain details of PDOs, PDOAs. It will be maintained by C-DoT.
• No registration is required for PDOAs or PDOs. The app providers will get themselves registered with DoT without registration fee. The registration shall be granted within seven days of application.

 

PM- WANI

• The WiFi will be provided through public data offices (PDOs) for which there will be no licence, registration or any other fees.
• The PDO, to be set up along the lines of public calling office, can be a mom-and-pop store in the area or the common services centre present in various small towns, gram panchayats, and villages in the country.
• The PDOs can either provide the internet on other own or lease it from other telecom and internet service providers.

 

What are PDOs?

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• Public Data Offices are conceived more as PCOs that were used for making phone calls by public on paid basis.
• The firms are intended as 'aggregators' and are invited to set up, on a pilot basis, PDOs to function as public wi-fi hotspots.
• Any entity can purchase, self-register, set-up and operate a PDO.
• They offer products for consumption, with low denominations ranging from Rs 2 to Rs 20, etc based on data used.
• It is based on an open architecture based Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (WANI).
• It allows users to do one-time enrolment into the service through KYC and mobile one time password, and access data.
• Public wi-fi hotspots aims at decongesting telecom networks and ensuring last-mile delivery of broadband to users.

 

What are the concerns with this?

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• Licensing - Department of Telecom has raised concerns with allowing non-telecom companies to operate public wi-fi hotspots.
• It argues that Telegraph Act mandates that such entities take licences from the government for selling data.
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• Also India's biggest mobile carriers are concerned that the entry of aggregators without licence would undermine the level-playing field conditions.
• Cyber Space - the privacy and security concerns with cyber space in India, leaves scope for doubting the safety of using public wi-fi.
• Gender - common places like the tea shops and bakeries are currently emerging as favoured locations to host PDOs.
• The limited geographical reach of wi-fi make these places over-crowded to utilise spots of maximise signal strength.
• Given the social characteristics of these urban spaces, and the social norms with using public spaces, how gender inclusive these places could be is highly uncertain.

 

Benefits of WANI

• WANI is fully interoperable, secure, collaborative, multi-provider and unified KYC.
• Multi-device support with single-click secure user authentication.
• Users can use any preferred app for discovering and connecting to any WANI compliant hotspots with single-click.
• Users can use cash or any valid electronic payment mechanisms including upcoming UPI e-mandates
• Entrepreneurs can create “WiFi in a box” software/hardware stack.
• Allows any SME or local entities to set up public paid WiFi hotspots using the WiFi in a box package.
• Allows last mile connectivity to be bridged in India, especially in rural areas.
• WANI dismantles monopoly, increase innovation, and pass benefits to the end user.
• Offers payment integration as WANI could be directly integrated with all kinds of payments providers including wallets, credit/debit cards, net banking, and UPI.
• WANI offers huge employment potential.
• WANI data is expected to be cheaper than mobile data since it has no spectrum or expensive infrastructure costs.
• It is a robust fall-back for failing or underperforming mobile networks.
• It will enable access to development and livelihood interventions that persons in rural areas
• The cost-benefits of seamlessly connecting to alternate networks like WiFi or IoT will allow operators to save on enormous duplication costs.
• WANI will enable Indian IoT systems to be mobile but also allow users of IoT systems to economically access alternate networks—very essential in a country like ours, where networks lack ubiquity either in terms of coverage or quality.
• WANI architecture will enable India to adopt network slicing and other advanced features of 5G while maintaining the security and privacy of its citizenry.
• From a consumer perspective, quality will be enhanced while competition will help lower the price.
• Studies estimate a positive impact of >$10 billion annually to the Indian economy.

 

The centre-stage: Public Data Offices (PDO)

• The idea of a PDO was first floated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in 2017.
• Like a PCO, the PDO allows users to connect to a public WiFi system for a limited session depending on the internet pack chosen by the user.
• These internet packages can either by charged on per minute or per hour basis by the PDOs.

 

Licensing of PDOs

• There will be no licence for PDOs. A simple registration system will be put in place for PDO aggregators as well as app providers, which will be approved within seven days of the application being submitted.
• In addition to the PDOs, there will also be PDO aggregators, which will look after the authorisation and accounting of PDOs.