NEW DELHI, June 16 (AP): In a major boost to affordable public internet access, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has revised tariffs for broadband backhaul under the PM-WANI scheme. Under the 71st Tariff Amendment Order, all retail FTTH broadband plans up to 200 Mbps must now be offered to Public Data Offices (PDOs) at rates not exceeding twice the consumer price.
The move, welcomed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), is expected to make backhaul for public Wi‑Fi hotspots up to 10 times more affordable. TRAI’s decision follows a DoT request to address the prohibitive cost structure that deterred small vendors from becoming PDOs.
PM-WANI (Prime Minister’s Wi-Fi Access Network Interface), launched to realize the vision of “Broadband for All,” currently boasts over 3.3 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots across India.
TRAI’s revision comes alongside recent DoT reforms that allow shared backhaul links, dual-SSID use in homes and businesses, roaming across PDO aggregator networks, mobile data offloading, and ad-push monetization — all designed to improve public Wi-Fi proliferation.
DoT reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with TRAI and stakeholders to bridge the digital divide and enable inclusive internet access.
