TRAI seeks stakeholder input to boost public Wi-Fi expansion across India

New Delhi [India], April 27 : Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Monday released a consultation paper on the "Proliferation of Public Wi-Fi Networks in India", inviting stakeholder comments on ways to accelerate deployment, improve viability, and enhance user adoption across the country.

The regulator has sought written comments from stakeholders by May 25, 2026, and counter-comments by June 8, 2026. Submissions will be placed on TRAI's official website for transparency and wider consultation.

In the paper, TRAI highlighted the growing importance of broadband as a core digital infrastructure, comparable to utilities such as electricity and transport, enabling sectors like education, healthcare, financial services, and governance. It noted that while India has witnessed rapid growth in mobile broadband usage, there remains a need to strengthen complementary access technologies such as public Wi-Fi to meet rising data demand.

According to the consultation document, public Wi-Fi networks can serve as a cost-effective and high-capacity solution, particularly in dense urban areas and high-footfall locations such as railway stations, airports, markets, and educational institutions. By offloading traffic from mobile networks, these systems can help reduce congestion and improve overall quality of service for users.

The regulator observed that despite earlier policy initiatives, including the PM-WANI framework launched in 2020, the proliferation of public Wi-Fi hotspots has not met national expectations. Key challenges identified include limited commercial viability for Public Data Offices (PDOs), underutilisation of deployed hotspots, concerns related to security and privacy, and inadequate participation from state and local bodies.

The paper also underscored the significant cost advantage of Wi-Fi compared to mobile data. It cited preliminary analysis indicating that the effective per-GB cost of data on Wi-Fi networks is substantially lower than that on mobile broadband, making it a viable option for affordable internet access, especially for low-income users.

TRAI further pointed to global trends, noting that countries such as South Korea, members of the European Union, and the United States have successfully expanded public Wi-Fi ecosystems through coordinated policy measures, public-private partnerships, and strong backhaul infrastructure.

The consultation emphasised that public Wi-Fi plays a critical role in advancing digital inclusion, supporting government service delivery, and enabling emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud-based services. It also highlighted its relevance in strengthening India's digital public infrastructure, including platforms like UPI, Aadhaar, and DigiLocker.

Given India's large population, growing digital consumption, and increasing demand for high-speed connectivity, TRAI said there is a need for a comprehensive reassessment of regulatory and policy frameworks governing public Wi-Fi.

The paper proposes to examine international best practices, evaluate India's current ecosystem, and identify policy pathways involving central and state governments, local bodies, service providers, and private entities to accelerate deployment.

TRAI said the consultation aims to develop a sustainable and scalable model for public Wi-Fi expansion, aligned with the country's broader digital transformation goals.

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