Public Wi-Fi rollout stalls as users eye free pass, says Trai

Commercial viability is a key reason why public Wi-Fi deployments have lagged targets

- Sejal Sharma

Public Wi-Fi in India currently comes from a mix of sources.

(HT)

India’s push to expand public WiFi may be running into a problem: users expect it to be free, making it hard for service providers to build a sustainable business around it, said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), in a consultation paper released on Monday.

In the paper, the regulator cited commercial viability as a key reason why deployments have lagged targets. The National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018 had envisioned 10 million public WiFi hotspots by 2022, but actual deployments remain far lower. AS of April 2026, around 410,000 hotspots have been deployed under the PM-WANI framework.

“India’s current Public WiFi footprint remains inadequate when viewed against its vast geography, diverse terrain, and the scale of demand from the world’s most populous country, having one of the largest youth populations,” Trai added in the paper, which explores more sustainable and scalable models, potentially involving public-private partnerships (PPPs), to expand connectivity, and support growing demand from data-heavy and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven services.

Trai has invited written comments on the consultation paper from the stakeholders by 25 May, and counter-comments by 8 June.