TRAI Invites Entities to Join Public Data Offices Pilot Project

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has invited entities to be part of a pilot to establish nationwide public data offices (PDO), an official statement said in London on Friday.

"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 Internet of Things devices come online," the TRAI statement said.

The objective of the pilot project is to demonstrate that unbundling of service reduces work, speeds up development and hence is the "most effective way to tackle this complex thing".

The pilot is also aimed at proving that multi-provider, inter-operable, collaborative model increases the overall innovation in the system, dismantles monopolies and encourages passing of benefits to end users.

The objective is also to jointly develop a business model that "fairly allocates value to each other", the statement said.