Vodafone Idea considering exiting public Wi-Fi Joint Venture with Airtel

Vodafone Idea is considering exiting its joint venture with Bharti Airtel- Firefly Networks Limited, According to a recent report by BusinessLine. The joint venture was created in 2014 to provide public Wi-Fi services.

Vodafone Idea CEO Ravinder Takkar informed the publication “I think we might potentially exit from the joint venture. At the moment, both companies are not investing much attention into the joint venture.” Takkar explained the Jv’s establishment by stating that the country has “extremely limited 3G spectrum” and that the telcos expected an increase in data usage, causing concerns about how to deal with the situation. “The whole point was to create a joint venture to unload data traffic onto local Wi-Fi networks.”

According to the report, the Jv’s failure to make an impact is owing to the availability of affordable data plans brought on by India’s 4G revolution, as well as more accessible mobile internet services. Vodafone Idea may be compelled to leave the JV as a result of this.

However, there have been initiatives to help public Wi-Fi hotspots succeed, such as the central government’s PM-WANI (Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface), which aims to set up public Wi-Fi networks by Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) to provide public Wi-Fi services through Public Data Offices (PDOs) spread across the country to accelerate the proliferation of broadband internet services.

According to the central PM-WANI registration, 63,841 Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed around the country. The Central Government has set a goal of establishing 10 Million Wi-Fi hotspots by 2022, says the National Digital Communication Plan and sees the PM-WANI plan as a way to reach this aim.