The promise of free WiFi was an intriguing part of the Aam Aadmi Party manifesto: there were scant details (to my knowledge) of what the exact offering would be. Now that the political party has won with a historic majority, all eyes are on how this will be implemented. News reports suggest the following: it will cost Rs 150-200 crore, it could be advertising supported, and Facebook has been in talks with them (for the net-neutrality violating Internet.org). There is a great opportunity to make Delhi into a vibrant tech and free speech hub, and here's how we think the tech-hub part of it should be implemented, taking into account issues of neutrality, competition, accessibility, security and convenience: 1. At the core, a neutral WiFi infrastructure service provider: This can be pure play telecom/Internet infrastructure company like Indus Towers (a JV between Airtel, Idea and Vodafone) or an independent white labeled player like Ozone Networks. It must be compulsory for whoever wins the contract to ensure that all licensed ISPs and Telecom Operators are able to offer their services on top of free WiFi, for which they can buy bandwidth. There should be a designated number of hotspots in the city (say, 10,000 hotspots). A white labeled approach ensures that Delhi isn't carved up into fiefdoms of telecom operators: that some areas only have MTNL, others only have Tata Teleservices, Reliance Jio or Airtel. That's the way home wireline and Cable TV access currently works in Delhi: everyone has their own fiefdom because…
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