Missed signals slow India’s public Wi-Fi ambitions

More than four years after its launch, India’s ambitious public Wi-Fi scheme—the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI)—has yet to meet its intended goals. Despite its decentralised, licence-exempt model and potential to expand affordable Internet access, the initiative has seen limited adoption, revealing a significant gap between vision and implementation.

Launched in December 2020, PM-WANI was envisioned as a transformative measure to bridge the country’s digital divide. The scheme aimed to increase broadband penetration, particularly in rural and underserved areas, by enabling small local businesses—such as tea stalls and grocery shops—to function as Public Data Offices (PDOs), offering Wi-Fi connectivity without requiring a licence. The broader objective was to promote digital inclusion across sectors, including education, healthcare, and e-governance.

At the time of the scheme’s launch, India had not yet rolled out 5G services, and Wi-Fi remained one of the most reliable means of accessing the Internet. The government initially set a target of 10 million public Wi-Fi hotspots by 2022, with a longer-term goal of reaching 50 million by 2030. However, as of March 2025, only 278,783 PM-WANI hotspots had been installed—less than 3% of the original target—with nearly half located in Delhi alone.

Low Awareness Stalls Wider Scheme Adoption

A key challenge has been the lack of public awareness and adoption. Although the scheme allows licence-exempt participation, very few small business owners are aware of how to register as PDOs. End users are similarly uninformed about where and how to access PM-WANI hotspots. As a result, usage remains low. As of December 2024, there were only 1.8 million distinct users who had consumed a total of 58.55 petabytes (PB) of data, figures well below the intended scale.

Sheetal Shetty, Chief Innovation Officer at Simple Energy, acknowledged the shortfall but highlighted the initiative’s foundational strength: “While current progress—278,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots established compared to the ambitious target of 10 million—highlights that there is still considerable ground to cover, it also reflects the early stages of a long-term initiative. The relatively slow pace of deployment so far points to operational and awareness challenges, but it does not undermine the strength of the PM-WANI framework itself. Designed with decentralisation, flexibility, and minimal licensing barriers at its core, the scheme offers a robust and scalable model that can support rapid expansion once the right incentives, partnerships, and support systems are in place.”

According to TV Ramachandran, President of the Broadband India Forum, “The National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) of 2018 envisaged the establishment of 10 million public Wi-Fi hotspots by December 2022. However, PM-WANI had not yet been conceived at that time. It was only in December 2020 that the scheme was formally launched.”

He added, “Until then, there was limited public understanding that entities other than telecom service providers (TSPs) could deploy Wi-Fi. The prevailing perception was that Wi-Fi was synonymous with home broadband offered by TSPs. The launch of PM-WANI aimed to democratise access by allowing individuals and small entrepreneurs to offer public Wi-Fi services without needing complex licensing or network permissions.”

Tariff Issues Trigger Industry Pushback

Despite this inclusive vision, the initiative has progressed slowly, in part due to disputes over tariffs. PDOs must purchase bandwidth from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or TSPs, who often impose high leased-line charges. This cost structure has acted as a significant deterrent to participation.

To address this, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) proposed in its 71st Amendment Order that telcos charge PDOs no more than twice the retail price of home broadband. Jio, in its submission, suggested that under this model, a PDO could purchase unlimited data for Rs 798 and resell it to 1,000 users at Rs 10 per GB. However, given that telcos currently charge mobile users Rs 19 per GB, they perceive PDOs as a threat to their existing revenue streams.

In response, the Department of Telecommunications amended the PM-WANI framework in September 2024 to remove the requirement for PDOs to sign commercial contracts with telcos. Nevertheless, the scheme has still not scaled as initially envisaged.

Kapil Handa, a broadband and telecom policy expert formerly associated with TRAI, explained: “The implementation did not unfold in the manner originally conceptualised. Many telecom service providers resisted from the outset, fearing regulatory overreach and loss of pricing flexibility. Their opposition was further supported by influential interest groups, which delayed the process and created a climate of hesitation.”

Ramachandran supported this view, noting: “Incumbent telcos are understandably cautious about losing market share. However, their resistance to public Wi-Fi is untenable from a policy standpoint. ‘Broadband for all’ is a national objective, and this includes low-income urban populations who cannot afford private broadband plans.”

He further explained, “PM-WANI complements rather than undermines mobile networks. PDOs and aggregators still rely on existing telco infrastructure to route data. Yet, the influence of large telcos has created both visible and invisible barriers.”

Tech Gaps and Weak Models Block Progress

One of the key technical improvements introduced by PM-WANI was interoperability. Ramachandran elaborated: “Previously, users had to authenticate and pay each time they accessed a hotspot, and leftover data was not transferable. PM-WANI changed that. Now, a user connecting at a Chennai hotspot can carry their data balance to a Karol Bagh hotspot without re-authenticating.”

However, this feature alone has not been sufficient to drive adoption. The business model remains weak. The affordability of mobile data in India diminishes the appeal of public Wi-Fi for consumers, while low profit margins make the venture unattractive to PDOs. Many potential providers cite complex registration processes, lack of incentives, and coordination issues among stakeholders as deterrents.

Concerns around data privacy and security also persist. Without strong encryption and cybersecurity protocols, users remain hesitant to connect. Additionally, infrastructure gaps—such as inconsistent power supply and the lack of high-speed backhaul—continue to limit deployment in rural areas. The fact that nearly half of PM-WANI hotspots are concentrated in Delhi highlights a sharp urban bias in what was initially designed as a rural upliftment scheme.

Needed: Reforms to Scale Wi-Fi for All

Despite these challenges, experts remain optimistic about the scheme’s potential. Shetty stated: “With over 500 million smartphone users in India still lacking reliable and consistent access to the Internet, PM-WANI has the potential to become a truly transformative initiative. It can bridge the gap in areas where high data costs and limited network coverage persist.”

He added: “Improving the economic viability of local providers through targeted subsidies, prioritising rural outreach, and encouraging collaboration between public and private sectors are essential next steps.”

Outlining the broader roadmap, Ramachandran said, “To reach the NDCP target of 10 million hotspots, and the 50 million envisioned in India’s 6G strategy, several actions are necessary. These include launching a nationwide awareness campaign, aligning tariffs with home broadband, extending financial support through the Digital Bharat Nidhi, and strengthening the overall PM-WANI ecosystem.”

He also underscored the scheme’s strategic importance: “PM-WANI is unique in scale and ambition. France, with a much smaller population, has 13 million public Wi-Fi hotspots. India must aim to match and surpass such benchmarks. PM-WANI should be recognised as a key component of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure, on par with Aadhaar and UPI. It is, in many ways, the ‘UPI of telecom’, a low-cost, decentralised connectivity model that can empower millions.”

PM-WANI began with a bold and commendable vision: to make affordable Internet universally accessible and empower small businesses as digital enablers. While its implementation has encountered multiple structural and regulatory challenges, the core idea remains fundamentally sound. With renewed focus, coherent policy support, and stronger public-private collaboration, PM-WANI can yet emerge as a powerful catalyst for inclusive digital growth across India.