TRAI proposes to scale back PM-WANI tariff at par with retail broadband connections

In a big improvement, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday has proposed that for the aim of offering PM-WANI (Prime Minister WIFI Community Interface) scheme, public knowledge places of work (PDOs) ought to be charged a tariff price at par with the tariffs for retail broadband (FTTH) connections.

TRAI launched a draft Telecommunication Tariff (seventieth Modification) Order, 2024 on “Regulatory framework for PM-WANI scheme”, and stated it has analysed the problems and is of the view that it’s essential to rationalise the price of broadband connectivity to PDOs to tempo up the proliferation of PM-WANI scheme.

Based mostly on the expertise gained, the TRAI stated it could overview the proposed association for PM-WANI scheme, after a interval of two years.

• Additionally learn: A number of stakeholders ask for elimination of AGR at TRAI’s open home dialogue

The Nationwide Digital Communications Coverage, 2018 below ‘Join India’ mission had set the aim to allow deployment of 10-million public Wi-Fi hotspots by 2022 for creating a strong digital communication infrastructure.

Additional, the Bharat 6G Imaginative and prescient additionally units the aim of 10-million public Wi-Fi hotspots by 2022 and 50 million by 2030 for Digital India 2030 cellular and broadband coverage targets. Nonetheless, PM-WANI hotspot numbers presently are a lot under the focused numbers, as envisaged in NDCP, 2018 doc and in Bharat 6G imaginative and prescient doc.

In November 2022, Division of Telecommunications (DoT) in its communication to TRAI said that the proliferation of the PM-WANI scheme is sort of restricted and much under the targets because of extraordinarily excessive price of backhaul Web connectivity charged by telecom service suppliers (TSPs) and Web service suppliers (ISPs) from PDOs.

Additional, DoT has opined that within the identify of business agreements, TSPs/ISPs usually insist on PDOs to attach public Wi-Fi entry factors utilizing costly Web leased strains (ILL) as a substitute of normal fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband connections.

Subsequently, TRAI introduced out this draft modification order and has requested the stakeholders to ship their written feedback on the identical by September 6 and counter feedback, if any, by September 13.

• Additionally learn: It’s telcos versus Nasscom, others on OTT policing