PM-WANI: how India's public Wi-Fi framework works
PM-WANI, the Prime Minister's Wi-Fi Access Network Interface approved by the Union Cabinet in December 2020, lets local Public Data Offices sell broadband through Wi-Fi hotspots without a licence fee or registration. Aggregators, app providers and a Central Registry kept by C-DoT complete the system. In 2026, the Department of Telecommunications reportedly added QR-based laptop login and standard hotspot names.
Syllabus: Prelims · Current Affairs & IR; GS3 · Infrastructure; GS2 · Government Policies
Why this matters for UPSC
GS3 infrastructure and GS2 government policies: Prelims can ask who does what under PM-WANI (Public Data Office, Public Data Office Aggregator, App Provider, Central Registry) and who caps tariffs; Mains, about closing the digital divide.
In short
PM-WANI, approved by the Union Cabinet in December 2020, is DoT's licence-free public Wi-Fi framework: small local operators sell broadband, and the state's role is mainly policy enablement.
PM-WANI's licence-free design works where demand already exists; its real test is cheap rural fibre that makes a village hotspot pay.
Why it matters
A tea-stall owner in a small town can buy a fibre broadband line, put up a WANI-compliant router and sell Wi-Fi to passers-by without paying a licence fee or seeking registration. A student or commuter without a large mobile data pack can then go online for a short task, such as filling in an online form. Because many small sellers, not one large company, build the network, hotspots can appear wherever there is demand. The larger issue is the digital divide. Mobile networks leave gaps in rural and low-income areas, and a hotspot pays only if its fibre connection is cheap, so rural fibre under the Amended BharatNet Program and TRAI's tariff cap for PDOs bear directly on how far PM-WANI spreads.
Prelims pointers
- PM-WANI: Prime Minister's Wi-Fi Access Network Interface, under the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications; Union Cabinet approval in December 2020.
- Public Data Office (PDO): sets up, maintains and operates WANI-compliant Wi-Fi access points and delivers broadband; needs no registration; works as an agent of a PDOA.
- Public Data Office Aggregator (PDOA): aggregator of PDOs that handles authorisation and accounting; registers with DoT; may roam with other PDOAs since 2024.
- App Provider: builds the app that registers users and finds nearby WANI-compliant hotspots; registers with DoT like a PDOA.
- Central Registry: holds the details of App Providers, PDOAs and PDOs; maintained, to begin with, by C-DoT, which also certifies PM-WANI compliance.
- Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): statutory telecom regulator under the TRAI Act, 1997; its 2025 tariff order caps FTTH prices for PDOs.
- Amended BharatNet Program: approved by the Union Cabinet on 4 August 2023, funded from Digital Bharat Nidhi; optical fibre to 2.64 lakh gram panchayats.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the Prime Minister's Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI), consider the following statements:
1. A Public Data Office must register with the Department of Telecommunications before it sets up a Wi-Fi hotspot.
2. Public Data Office Aggregators and App Providers register with the Department of Telecommunications without paying a registration fee.
3. No licence fee is levied for providing broadband internet through PM-WANI public Wi-Fi networks.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
1 is incorrect: the 2020 Cabinet release says no registration is required for Public Data Offices. 2 is correct: PDOAs and App Providers register with DoT on the SARALSANCHAR portal without paying any registration fee. 3 is correct: the Cabinet decided there shall be no licence fee for broadband through these public Wi-Fi networks.
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