Delhi Free WiFi Scheme

As all government and essential services move to digital platforms, quality internet is a basic necessity for all citizens. However, the internet still remains an expensive commodity for the common citizen. This further widens the gap and denies them several economic and social opportunities. In order to bridge this gap and further the education, health and social interests of common people, the Government of NCT of Delhi introduced the Delhi Free WiFi Scheme.

In December 2019, the Government of NCT of Delhi introduced the Delhi Free WiFi Scheme to implement free WiFi hotspots for providing quality internet services to the citizens of Delhi. It is a unique initiative undertaken for the first time by a government to provide free WiFi facility across the city.

DDC has played a key role in advising the Public Works Department of GNCTD in the design and implementation of this scheme. Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDC) undertook a detailed study to assess the need for the Scheme and continues to provide knowledge and technical support for the identification of issues, grievance redressal and smoother implementation of the Scheme.

Key Features Of The Scheme

The Scheme was introduced with the aim to set up 11,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the national capital. Some of the key features of the Scheme are:

• Every hotspot is able to support 150-200 concurrent users;
   
• The average Wi-Fi speed is 100 to 200 Mbps;
   
• A single user, with one ID, will be allowed a limit of 15 GB of downloadable data per month;
   
• No citizen in dense areas will be more than 500 metres from a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Until July 2022, 10,561 Wi-Fi hotspots have already been installed, with more than 21 lakh people availing of the free Wi-Fi facility.