ITV

Tag: WANI

  • Wi-fi Hotspots: Architecture and Specification document released by TRAI

    NEW DELHI: A “Public Wifi Pilot” laying the foundation for setting up nationwide public wifi network with the help of public data officers (PDOs) has been issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

    The aim of this effort is to help set up large number of public wi-fi hotspots across the country on a scale similar to what has been done in most of the developed countries.

    This will not only increase worldwide availability of data to the consumers but will also improve India’s overall ranking in the data usage. Interested entities are requested to submit their willingness to TRAI by 25 July 2017.

    TRAI said the telecom industry is seeing rapid transformation through drop in data prices, increased speed, and increased consumption of data packs. India is also creating a slew of digital platforms to help its citizens with better access to various services.

    According to reports, Indians consumed more cellular data than China, and as much as the US in the current cellular data pricing regime. TRAI believes that by adopting an Open Architecture approach, emphasis on innovation and consumer experience is placed as the winning criteria.

    This network architecture is built around an Open Architecture based Wi-Fi Access Network Interface {WANI} that facilitates participation of PDO providers, access point hardware/software providers, application providers etc. There could be any number of entities participating in the network making it truly unbundled and open architecture, as mentioned in the pilot document released on 7 July 2017.

    The document entitled “Open Wi-fi Framework- Architecture & specification (version 0.5)” represents an exciting opportunity to achieve for data exactly what PCOs did for Long Distance Calling. It will bring a new generation of users and entrepreneurs into the market to bridge the need of last mile connectivity. The opportunities created are immense and will benefit 100’s of millions of users in India waiting to get affordable access to Internet.

    A statement by TRAI said the regulator was overwhelmed with the response received from a number of startup companies for participating in this pilot project for the nationwide wi-fi network.

  • Wi-Fi: TRAI plans to set up ‘open’ WANI, seeks inter-operable, sachet-priced model

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a document inviting participation of entities to be part of a Pilot to establish Nation-wide Public Data Offices (PDOs). Any interested entity (company, proprietorship, societies, non-profits, etc.) registered in India can apply to TRAI latest by 25 July 2017.

    The Internet is the single most self-empowering infrastructure available for a citizen in the 21st century. The World Bank observed that a 10% increase in Internet penetration leads to a 1.4% increase in GDP. Access to the Internet is considered a basic human right by many countries globally, including Estonia, Finland and France. In India, access to data is still limited due to poor coverage of fiber & telecom and prohibitive pricing of cellular data. Public Wi-Fi hotspots hold an important place in the last-mile delivery of broadband to users. It allows offloading telecom networks to ease congestion, and will be crucial when the next billion loT devices come online.

    Based on the recommendation of TRAI on “Proliferation of Broadband through Public Wi-Fi Networks” issued on 9 March 2017, TRAI invites all interested entities to be a part of a Pilot to establish nation-wide, pay-as-you-go PDOs.

    The vision of this initiative is to establish an Open Architecture based Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (WANI), such that;

    • Any entity (company, proprietorship, societies, non-profits, etc.) should easily be able to setup a paid public Wi-Fi Access Point:

    • Users should be able to easily discover WANI compliant SSIDs, do one click authentication and payment, and connect one or more devices in single session.

    • The experience for a small entrepreneur to purchase, self-register, set-up and operate a PDO must be simple, low-touch and maintenance-free.

    • The products available for consumption should begin from “sachet-sized”, i.e. low denominations ranging from Rs 2 to Rs 20, etc.

    • Providers (PDO provider, Access Point hardware/software, user authentication and KYC provider, and payment provider) are unbundled to eliminate silos and closed systems. This allows multiple parties in the ecosystem to come together and enable large scale adoption.

    Objectives of the pilot are:

    • Demonstrate that unbundling of services reduces rework, speeds up development and hence is the most effective way to tackle this complex problem.

    • Prove that Multi-provider, inter-operable, collaborative model increases the overall innovation in the system, dismantles monopolies and encourages passing of benefits to end user.

    • Test the specifications in real life conditions, and suggest improvements.

    • Jointly develop a business model that fairly allocates value to each provider.

    • Fine tune the technology and finalize the specifications based on pilot.

    • Test out integrated paymernt methods such as coupons (purchased usmg cash by user or gifted to user), credit/debit cards, net banking, e-wallets, and UPI.