PM-wani Crosses 4 Lakh Public Wi-fi Hotspots As India Pushes Wider Broadband Access

India’s public Wi-Fi expansion under the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) framework has crossed a major milestone, with more than 4 lakh operational hotspots now active across the country. Union Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia informed the Rajya Sabha on April 2, 2026, that 4,09,403 Public Data Offices (PDOs), or public Wi-Fi hotspots, were operational across States and Union Territories as of February 28, 2026. The ecosystem also includes 207 Public Data Office Aggregators and 113 app providers, reflecting the steady scaling up of the decentralised digital access model. The latest numbers point to growing adoption of public Wi-Fi as a low-cost broadband access layer. According to the government, nearly 2.45 crore users have accessed PM-WANI hotspots so far, while total data consumption since launch has reached about 58.64 petabytes. States such as Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are among the leading contributors in hotspot deployment, indicating that the network is gaining traction in both dense urban markets and broader state-level digital infrastructure rollouts. The PM-WANI model is designed as a market-driven framework that allows local entrepreneurs to set up and operate Wi-Fi access points based on commercial viability, with the government acting primarily as an enabling policy platform. That structure is intended to widen last-mile internet access without relying solely on large-scale centralised infrastructure, particularly in areas where affordable broadband availability remains uneven. To accelerate deployment, especially in rural and remote areas, the government has introduced a set of policy changes aimed at improving both affordability and business viability. PDOs have been allowed to provide services using Fibre-to-the-Home connections and to aggregate multiple access points through a single backhaul to an internet service provider, reducing operational costs. At the same time, they can now offer mobile data offloading services to telecom operators, while PDO aggregators and app providers are permitted to deliver promotional and branded content to users with consent, creating additional revenue avenues.

User experience has also been a focus of the policy refresh. Existing home and business Wi-Fi networks can now be integrated into the PM-WANI ecosystem, and roaming has been enabled among PDO aggregators so users can connect more seamlessly across different hotspots. In a parallel measure to support viability, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India issued a tariff order on June 16, 2025 requiring internet service providers to offer retail FTTH broadband plans of up to 200 Mbps to PDOs at tariffs capped at no more than twice the corresponding consumer broadband tariff. The measure is expected to improve affordability for small operators and help sustain faster hotspot rollout.

Taken together, the numbers suggest that PM-WANI is evolving from a policy experiment into a larger public connectivity layer, with the government now trying to make the model more attractive for small-scale operators while extending access deeper into underserved regions.

Reference: PIB