India Will Get One Million WiFi Hotspots By December 2019, Says Union Minister

India is set to get one million WiFi hotspots across the country by 2019, reports The Television Post. The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha, made the announcement during the inauguration of the 3-day India Mobile Congress at New Delhi's Aero City recently.

The Indian telecom industry is all set to roll out one million WiFi hotspots in the country by December 2019, he said. More than 300 companies from 20 countries participated in this prestigious event in the Asia Pacific region.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by over 5,000 people from 10 partner countries, which included various policymakers, ambassadors, opinion makers, change agents, bureaucrats, and investors.

Internet Service Providers and Virtual Network Operators own and operate Bharat WiFi. They will be rolling out the hotspots all around the country. Customers of partnering operators will also be allowed to use the internet through this initiative.

The 2018 IMC, which began on Thursday (25 October), saw various Ministers and Telecom Industry leaders attend the second edition of the event.

Among other announcements, the National Frequency Allocation Plan 2018 (NFAP) was unveiled during the inauguration. The NFAP has released a quantum of 605 MHz licence-exempt spectrum in the 5GHz band for Wireless Access Services and Radio Local Area Networks in outdoor, to meet the ever-growing demand for data.