The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has held talks with mobile operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, etc. in a bid to provide Wi-Fi hotspots in cities with population of over 10 lakh and in tourist centers.
A key part of the Digital India program, an ambitious project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP Government, the Wi-Fi service can be free or chargeable. The government and key operators are yet to finalize its plans, PTI reported.
The project will increase broadband consumption in India. Currently, India has around 15 million broadband subscribers. Though mobile Internet is growing, the broadband speed is not enough to access high quality content.
As per the Digital India program, the government is looking at investing Rs 1 lakh crore to transform the country into a digitally empowered knowledge economy. The program will be implemented in phases from the current year till 2018.
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