Authored by Satyam Darmora, Founder, i2e1
On September 23rd, Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India met some of the top American CEOs representing top technology companies including Christiano Amon, the CEO of Qualcomm. This is reflective of his priorities for the nation – building a connected Bharat.
PM Modi is known to be one of the smartest communicators. So, what's the deal behind PM WANI, that was announced by the Government in Dec 2020 and has been at the center of the Government’s agenda since then?
Right after meeting the technology giants, Hon’ble Prime Minister tweeted about the meeting - his regular way to converse with countrymen directly. While 5G was an obvious mention, what is interesting to note is the specific mention of PM-WANI. The meeting with chip giant Qualcomm is of great significance given India's strong push towards digital India. With the support of global technology companies on India’s flagship initiatives like PM WANI, India can achieve its dream of a connected Bharat in a much faster and holistic way.
PM WANI is a game changing architectural and policy change in the internet delivery that the Government of India has adopted. Now any individual can share and sell his extra internet to someone else and charge for it. This opens a new shared economy that can fundamentally change how internet delivery happens today.
Imagine this for a while – if you live in a house with 4 bedrooms and are utilizing only 2 bedrooms, today, the tenants are not allowed to sublet the house to anyone. Such a scenario creates a lot of unused homes, while the rental remains the same. Now, imagine if you were allowed to sublet the unused rooms and charge money for the same, similar to Airbnb – the burden of the total cost you bear decreases and access to a good house at affordable price increases, drastically.
The state of home broadband has been similar in India. Compared to China that has 92% of households with home internet, Russia that has ~50%, India has only 7% of households connected with broadband internet. In the past, end users could not resell or share this internet to anyone else. However, PM WANI changes this fundamentally. Any user can resell his internet to someone else if certain technology protocols are followed. These have been vetted by the Government for safety and security.
Even if 50% of the existing user base decides to share their extra internet to someone else, 10 M more households can get home internet available at almost no extra costs. If each connection is shared amongst 4 people, home broadband proliferation can go to 30% in just a few months.
This is revolutionary. The Government and regulators TRAI have been visionary in solving the problem of Broadband proliferation in the country with a genius masterstroke. PM WANI does not aim to solve the public Wi-Fi but the issue of broadband proliferation in the country.
For obvious reasons, chipset companies like Qualcomm can capitalise on this opportunity, as long as they are willing to Make FOR India solutions to solve Indian problems.. Shared economy is the mantra for new age businesses. From Airbnb to WeWork, multiple unicorns have been created. This may just be the moment that may change internet delivery forever.
