New Delhi, NFAPost: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam will migrate 30,000 of its Wi-fi hotspots to the PM-WANI framework by June.
Speaking at Broadband India Forum (BIF) event, Vivek Narayan, DDG (data services) in the Department of Telecom (DoT) mentioned the potential and impact of the PM-WANI wi-fi hotspots scheme across areas, such as tourism, smart cities and last-mile connectivity in villages.
In December 2020, the government approved the setting up of public Wi-fi networks and access points by local Kirana and neighbourhood shops through public data offices that will not involve any licence, fee or registration.
“BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) would be migrating 30,000 of its hotspots into PM-WANI by June. Railways has already covered around 100 railway stations on PM WANI and is going to cover all its hotspots…there are around 17,000 hotspots of Railways…all of them would be covered under PM WANI by June,” said Narayan.
The event also witnessed the official launch of the BIF Connectivity Accelerator Program with the shortlisted top 10 ventures. BIF has partnered with Headstart Network Foundation and Meta for this initiative. The accelerator programme offers the ventures various elements of engagement to support them in their journey.
It offers masterclasses by experts in business, technology, investment, and marketing, as also mentorship by industry experts to not only guide them during the course of the programme but also to connect them with opportunities. It also provides networking opportunities with corporations.
