Broadband India Forum (BIF) has welcomed the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) two important notifications issued on May 22, 2026 aimed at further strengthening the PM-WANI based Public Wi-Fi ecosystem. The two notifications are extremely significant in the overall push both from the government and by the regulator to promote PM-WANI based public Wi-Fi ubiquitously across the country. PM-WANI is a unique flagship initiative of the government of India to provide affordable, high-speed public broadband internet.
First Notification is an advice to PDOs and PDOAs to introduce short-duration data plans (sachets) under the PM-WANI framework, which would cater to users requiring brief internet access, such as travellers, students and daily commuters, visitors in a mall/shop and other small time users. If adopted, this will enable improved adoption and monetisation of PM-WANI hotspots.
The other notification amends the guidelines of WANI framework, bringing QR-based authentication for secondary devices like laptops and tablets, letting users securely piggyback on their already-authenticated smartphones. This would enable users to securely authenticate secondary devices. It would also improve interoperability, ease of access and security within the PM-WANI ecosystem. The notification further standardises SSID nomenclature across PM-WANI hotspots to ensure that all such hotspots now feature standardized “PM-WANI” branding for easy network identification.
These measures reflect the government’s continued commitment towards making PM-WANI based public Wi-Fi fully accessible and user-friendly, effectively positioning it as the digital public infrastructure (DPI) for connectivity, serving affordable internet to millions of users across India.
Commenting on the announcement, president, BIF, said, “These timely, pragmatic and consumer-centric measures will further accelerate India’s digital inclusion and public broadband objective. Public Wi-Fi cannot scale on monthly plans alone. Bite-sized, affordable access packs will directly boost hotspot utilisation and unlock additional revenues for PDOs and PDOAs, especially in high-footfall and underserved areas, thereby improving their business case.”
Lauding DoT’s policy intent, he stated, “These moves are true to PM-WANI’s original DNA, a light-touch, innovation-first framework open to MSMEs, VLEs, startups, kirana stores, and local businesses. PM-WANI is one of India’s most important digital inclusion initiatives, with the potential to become the DPI of the connectivity layer, alongside fibre, mobile, satellite and other tech.”
