Key Points
The count is a paltry 0.5 million, a far cry from the 10-million target by the end of 2022 outlined in the National Digital Communications Policy-2018...
On a per million population, the number of public WiFi hotspots is 175 times that of India in the UK, 50 times in the US and 75 times in China, according to data collated by global market research agency Statista...
A key reason behind the failure of public WiFi, industry executives said, is the exorbitant Internet leased line charges - ranging between 4 lakh and 8 lakh a year - that telecom operators or Internet service providers (ISPs) charge public data offices (PDOs) and public data office aggregators (PDOAs)..
They said amid the surge in data consumption with 5G, their immediate priority is using their bandwidth and fibre resources optimally to deliver quality broadband connectivity to their own customers at affordable rates before considering any price cuts for outsiders (such as PDOs/PDOAs) towards public WiFi...
"Annual Internet leased line charges being levied by telcos/ISPs on the WiFi PDOs/PDOAs are too high and a major reason for undermining the business viability of public WiFi ... the government and the regulator must intervene to ensure this service, that is specially suited for the aam aadmi, is nurtured and not allowed to go adrift," BIF president TV Ramachandran told ET...
