The growth of Internet penetration in India and realisation of its full potential is closely tied to the proliferation of broadband services. Broadband refers to high-speed internet access delivered through technologies such as fibre, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), cable, 4G/5G, Wi-Fi and satellite. As per the notification by the Government of India, Broadband is a data connection that is able to support interactive services including Internet access and has the capability of minimum 2 Mbps download speed to an individual subscriber from the point of presence of the service provide The term Wi - Fi (an acronym for Wireless Fidelity) is commonly used to refer to the array of technical standards (802.11 standards and various amendments to it) developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) that can be used to create WLANs. Strictly speaking, Wi - Fi is a certification provided by the Wireless Broadband Alliance 1 (WBA), which owns and controls the “Wi - Fi Certified” logo that can be applied to products that satisfy certain interoperability criteria. WLANs created using Wi - Fi technology can be used to connect personal computers, mobile phones, tablets and other appliances to a local network, which in turn provides connectivity to the Internet. These WLANs can be operated for private use, such as in the home, or to create short - range, public networks, known as “hotspots”, which can be found in public places like airport lounges, coffee shops or neighbourhoods. Status of adoption of Wi-Fi networks The estimated public wi fi hotspots in India is 4,10,365 (through PM-WANI as of May 2026), TSPs/ISPs offered a total of 55,483 Wi-Fi hotspots, accounting for approximately 1,59,600 access points nationwide (Dec. 2025) and RailTel has deployed Public Wi-Fi services under the brand “RailWire” in over 6,115 railway stations. Several State Governments and urban local bodies have undertaken independent Public Wi-Fi initiatives within their jurisdictions to support digital inclusion and improve access in public spaces. Examples include Kerala Free Internet, Telangana “Hy-Fi” , Aaple Sarkar Mumbai Wi-Fi, Amma Wi-Fi in Tamil Nadu, etc. The National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) 2018 set a goal enabling deployment of public Wi-Fi Hotspots; to reach 5 million by 2020 and 10 million by 2022. It also sough to establish NagarNet – Establishing 1 Million public Wi-Fi Hotspots in urban areas and JanWiFi – Establishing 2 Million Wi-Fi Hotspots in rural areas. Public Wi - Fi hotspots have been launched at locations like railway stations, metro stations, hotels, airports, cafes, markets, educational institutions, parks and other public places at various locations in the country. Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) The Union Cabinet during December 2020 provided its approval for the proposal of DoT for setting up of Public Wi-Fi Networks by Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) to provide public Wi-Fi service through Public Data Offices (PDOs) spread across length and breadth of the country to accelerate proliferation of Broadband Internet services through Public Wi-Fi network in the country. The PM-WANI framework envisages provision of Broadband through Public Wi-Fi Hotspot providers. It consists of elements such as Public Data Office (PDO), Public Data Office Aggregator (PDOA), App Provider and Central Registry. Salient Features This Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface will be known as Prime Minister’s Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI). PM-WANI eco-system will be operated by different players as described herein under: Public Data Office (PDO): It will establish, maintain, and operate only WANI compliant Wi-Fi Access Points and deliver broadband services to subscribers. Public Data Office Aggregator (PDOA): It will be an aggregator of PDOs and perform the functions relating to Authorization and Accounting. App Provider: It will develop an App to register users and discover WANI compliant Wi-Fi hotspots in the nearby area and display the same within the App for accessing the internet service. Central Registry: It will maintain the details of App Providers, PDOAs, and PDOs. To begin with, the Central Registry will be maintained by C-DoT. Objectives While no registration would be required for PDOs, PDOAs and App Providers will get themselves registered with DoT through online registration portal (SARALSANCHAR - https://saralsanchar.gov.in) of DoT, without paying any registration fee. Registration shall be granted within 7 days of the application. In fact, PDOAs, who will aggregate the last-mile providers will also not require any license. These PDOAs will only have to register, for which no fees will be charged. No License Fee for providing broadband internet services using public Wi-Fi Hotspots will massively encourage its proliferation and penetration across the length and breadth of the country. Availability and use of Broadband will enhance incomes, employment, quality of life, ease of doing business etc. To know more, visit https://pmwani.gov.in/wani Public Wi-Fi service in railway stations Free high-speed public Wi-Fi service under the brand name of RailWire is now available at railway stations in India. The service is available in 6115 Railway stations across India. The public Wi-Fi service will be accessible by Wi-Fi enabled mobiles. The process of logging onto the network are as follows. Switch on the Wi-Fi mode on you smartphone Select the RailWire Wi-Fi network Enter Mobile and get one-time password (OTP) through SMS Enter OTP and start accessing High speed Wi-Fi Source : RAILTEL Free Wi-Fi spots in cities Free wi-fi has been launched in several cities of the country. The service offers free wifi access upto the first 30 minutes of usage. The users can later recharge using prepaid vouchers. The list of cities where wi-fi hot spots have been launched are as follows. Ahmedabad Bengaluru Chennai Gurgaon Hyderabad Kolkata Lucknow Mumbai Pune New Delhi Patna Visakhapatnam Source : TRAI Consultation Paper on Proliferation of Broadband through Public Wi-Fi Networks