Wi-Fi penetration in India continues to lag behind despite several efforts by the government and telecom operators, a top official of the Department of Science and Technology said on Thursday.
While speaking at a Broadband India Forum (BIF) event on World Wi-Fi day, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Secretary Abhay Karandikar said the absence of a ubiquitous backend telecom infrastructure is restricting the growth of Wi-Fi penetration in India despite advancement in the technology and availability of spectrum.
"Wi-Fi is a key to providing affordable connectivity and in India we still continue to lag behind in public Wi-Fi penetration in a significant manner despite several efforts made by the government and the operators," he said.
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Karandikar said that with mobile services like 5G, 6G moving to higher frequency bands it is becoming difficult to provide networks inside buildings where Wi-Fi can play an important role.
According to the Department of Telecom data, there are about 2 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots deployed under the government's PM WANI project.
The PM WANI project aims to enhance the proliferation of public Wi-Fi hotspots to create a robust digital communications infrastructure in the country.
Karandikar said Railtel can play a significant role in the proliferation of Wi-Fi.
"Wi-Fi can provide solutions for in-building solutions where connectivity through mobile cannot reach. There is a requirement to have an integrated controller at the operator's end which can actually provide seamless hand off from mobile broadband like 5G to Wi-Fi," he said.
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At the event, digital subject think tank BIF President TV Ramachandran mentioned that the industry estimates average consumption per fixed connection per month can zoom up to 600-700 GB and Wi-Fi is must to support those levels of consumption.
BlueTown India, Executive Chairman (CMD), SN Gupta said that India has half a million Wi-Fi hotspots, while as per world average there should be 1 crore Wi-Fi hotspots.
He said that the government has set a target to have 5 crore Wi-Fi hotspots and there is a long way to go to achieve that target.
"One of the biggest asks of the industry is that telecom operators and internet service providers should provide backhaul in a cost-effective manner where government and regulator's intervention is required," Gupta said.
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