Free Public Wi-Fi: Delhi Government to Hold Consultation With Stakeholders

Moving a step forward to implement its pre-poll promise of providing free Wi-Fi connectivity across the city, the Aam Aadmi Party government has decided to hold a three-day consultation with various stakeholders from March 24.

Government has sought suggestions of interested persons, organisations, stakeholders to send their suggestions on business models, technologies, implementation strategies and any other aspects on email - delhiwidewifi@gmail.com till March 23, an official statement said today.

The AAP, in its manifesto, had promised to make Wi-Fi connectivity freely available in public spaces across the national capital, saying that citywide Wi-Fi can help in bridging the digital divide and it will also provide an impetus to education, entrepreneurship, business etc.

According to the government, a stakeholder consultation meet has also been scheduled from March 24 to March 26 (from 10am to 1:30pm everyday) at Delhi Secretariat.

"This meet is to ensure active involvement of various stakeholders from industry associations, internet service providers, telecom service providers, value added service (VAS)/ Over The Top(OTT) players, telecommunication consultants, telecommunication infrastructure companies, OEMs of Wi-Fi equipment," government stated in a statement.

It also stated this meeting is also planned to highlight the stakeholder's interest, project specific view-points, suggestions, concerns and support measures in a collective way to make project related decisions and chart out directions for successful implementation.

"The participants are expected to submit ideas, plans, feedback, and business model in advance," the statement said.