AAP Takes The First Step Towards Providing Free Wi-Fi In Delhi

Following the news of free Wi-Fi in Kolkata, one of the major poll promises of providing free Wi-Fi to Delhi is now under way by the AAP government. Ideas and suggestions are being crowd-sourced by the public for the same. The Government has set up ten questions by which ideas are being considered for wider consultation. Tips are also being adopted from different countries worldwide which already has established free public WiFi zones. The primary aim of this is to use much of the existing infrastructure to mount routers and other equipments, like electricity poles, etc.

According to AAP, universal access to the Internet is a transformative idea that can empower the citizens of the state. Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), an advisory body of AAP government chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said that it will transform Delhi and become a role model for the rest of India to look up to.

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It can be argued that the next greatest enabler of opportunities for the poorest of the poor would come from access to the information highway and Internet, and this will democratise opportunities and empower the ordinary man.

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The ten questions asked by DDC are:

1. What should be the ideal level of access of public wi-fi and whether it can be made available right up to citizens’ doorsteps?
2. What are the feasibility and technological challenges and whether the wi-fi should be made available at well-defined public spaces in every neighbourhood?
3. what is the infrastructure and technology required to create the public wi-fi network?
4. What should be the essential services that a government should aim at providing through public wi-fi?
5. What is the capex and opex required to create and operate public wi-fi?
6. What could be a model that makes public wi-fi viable, sustainable and scalable in terms of usage, technology and finance?
7. Can public wi-fi network be made financially self- sustainable if viewed from the welfare service perspective alone?
8. Should there be multiple operators or an exclusive operator in a well-defined zone of the city?
9. What could be the operating architecture that brings all the stakeholders together?
10. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a private enterprise model vis-a-vis a PSU model?

The Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) is inviting opinions, ideas, suggestions within 200 words on the above ten questions at [email protected] or the Whatsapp helpline, +919643327265. DDC is also considering case studies of public Wi-Fi from other parts of the world.