PM-WANI Future Plans for Internet Backhaul through SATLINKS

Satellite backhaul technology is essential to extend cellular coverage.

Technological advances in different sectors, such as telecommunications, allowed the world to have connectivity at all times, every day. However, in certain remote areas, traditional systems cannot penetrate and provide the necessary coverage. Several companies in the sector have focused on the issue, in order to provide a stable and sufficient signal to secure access to voice, data and communication services to remote populations.

In the report of the Northern Sky Research firm, one of the most important pillars within the satellite industry was identified in the coming years: the cellular backhaul. As the active base increases, new use cases appear or broadband services have a more active market share, the demand for this technology would be boosted. In fact, the consultant’s estimate is to see the system’s revenues triple over the next 10 years, 3 thousand 400 million dollars by 2026. Its impact would be so great that mobile companies would outsource their network management operations.

With this precedent, how could satellite backhaul technology be applied? Amongst the most common uses can be the expansion of cellular networks, the deployment to hard-to-reach areas of telephony stations and further expansion of trunking services. In the field of communications, these types of systems provide access to the network to multiple clients simultaneously by sharing a group of lines or frequencies, instead of granting them individually.

“Through the satellite backhaul internet, telecommunications could generate revenues of $ 3.4 billion by 2026.”

Another great feature of the satellite cellular backhaul is its ability to facilitate communication and expand the area of operation of public and mobile telephony providers. Thus, more coverage and support would be given to existing technologies (2G, 3G, 4G) and, in the not too distant future, even 5G. Similarly, companies could meet the growing demand of the remote telephony services market.

A Digital Revolution across the next 500 million in India

Decisions and opinions driven from access to information open channels to development that were previously inaccessible – whether it’s online education or e-commerce or access to ideas and schemes that can enable growth.

This makes Dreaming Big in life a lot more affordable across lower income groups.

And with information readily available online, the next 500 million Indians are turning to Internet as a necessary commodity. A commodity that holds a lot of potential to help them improve their quality of life.

This demand for internet is sowing seeds to a different kind of a revolution…

Do You Remember The Time When The ‘Sachet Revolution’ Gripped India

When The Lower Income Households Started Getting Access To ‘Previously In-Accessible, Expensive Consumer Brands’, Via Sachets? The Sachet Concept Introduced These Brands At Lower Prices, Albeit At Lower Unit Quantities. 

Now imagine Internet being made available in sachets, or Wi-Fi coupons.

This is a concept that PM WANI and UIAPL  are introducing the next 500 million Indians to.

And early signs of a change in their quality of lives are already becoming visible…

This is a new wave of digital empowerment that is giving rise to a new form of internet economy.

This economy is enabling shopkeepers become digital entrepreneurs, while providing affordable internet access across low-income households.

In 2019, it was observed that a 10% increase in internet traffic led to a 3.3% increase in GDP. Now just imagine the kind of impact disruptive tech can create by tapping the potential across the next 500 million Indians.

PM WANI to boost small businesses and connect India

The tale of the common man in India has always been one of struggle and in-sufficiency. This became quite evident in the post Covid-19 world, when the divide between the privileged and the under-privileged got exposed by the pandemic.

Many shops shut down. From farmers to small businesses, incomes were drastically impacted. Even children were cut off from access to education.

It was a different story, however, across the more affluent segments where ‘Work from home’ and ‘Study from home’ became the new normal.

India scrambled towards going hands free and digital, but the common man started feeling left out. A refreshed realization of struggle and in-sufficiency became his new normal.

In an attempt to solve for this, On Dec 9, 2020, The Govt. of India launched the PM WANI scheme. This scheme aims to boost the incomes of small businesses, while bridging the digital divide across the Indian demography.

 
What does the world of PM WANI look like?

As of today, the cheapest 4G plan costs Rs. 149, which gives a daily access of 1 GB internet to an individual, for a month.

This is limited provisioning when it comes to prolonged duration of online education and content consumption. Especially across low-income households, where a family of four relies on just one such connection. This limited availability of data limits possibilities of information consumption, while consistently disrupting user experience.

Consider an alternative, where a mom-and-pop store sells Wi-Fi vouchers, each giving access to unlimited data at broadband like speeds, for just Rs. 50 and other denominations.

Imagine this store immediately next to 3 to 4 low-income households, where every member of the household can access this Wi-Fi network at fast speeds, with no data limit, at nearly one third the cost of 4G.

Now imagine lakhs of such stores, spread across the country, where a network effect enables users to stay connected to broadband bandwidths at all times via Wi-Fi, at almost no cost.

PM WANI promises this alternate reality. It envisions small businesses becoming digital entrepreneurs, creating a digitally empowered community across the next 500 million Indians. A community where Indians get access to high speed, low-cost, distributed broadband data on Wi-Fi; and small businesses boost their incomes by selling Wi-Fi data.

This reality is well within reach, as was suggested by a recently finished pilot conducted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). This pilot witnessed shopkeepers earning up-to Rs. 300 daily by selling Wi-Fi vouchers of Rs. 5, 20 and 50 denominations (For most small businesses, this is equivalent to up-to a 100% increase in their daily income).

Small businesses became hubs for people to gather and access Wi-Fi -> from children getting access to online education to the youth and elderly consuming online content, the pilot started witnessing stories of communities coming together and getting digitally empowered.

PM-WANI scheme: All you need to know about Centre’s nationwide public Wi-Fi network plan

This Central government’s scheme is called the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) and is being seen as an attempt by the government to elevate wireless internet connectivity in the country.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the establishment of public Wi-Fi networks across the country. These would be provided through Public Data Offices (PDOs). This Central government’s scheme is called the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) and is being seen as an attempt by the government to elevate wireless internet connectivity in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the PM-WANI scheme “historic”. He added it will completely revolutionise the tech sphere and will also substantially improve the wireless connectivity of the country. PM-WANI will boost the “ease of doing” business and also “ease of living”, said PM Modi in a tweet.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the establishment of public Wi-Fi networks across the country. These would be provided through Public Data Offices (PDOs). This Central government’s scheme is called the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) and is being seen as an attempt by the government to elevate wireless internet connectivity in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the PM-WANI scheme “historic”. He added it will completely revolutionise the tech sphere and will also substantially improve the wireless connectivity of the country. PM-WANI will boost the “ease of doing” business and also “ease of living”, said PM Modi in a tweet.

“The scheme would enable our small shopkeepers to provide Wi-Fi service. This will boost incomes as well as ensure our youth gets seamless internet connectivity. It will also strengthen our Digital India mission,” said the Prime Minister in another tweet about PM-WANI.

How will India’s new public Wi-Fi project rollout?

The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal to set up public Wi-Fi access network interfaces. Why is a public Wi-Fi network needed in India? How have other countries gone about setting it up? The Union Cabinet recently cleared a proposal by the Department of Telecommunications to set up public Wi-Fi access network interfaces. This is essentially a nationwide network of public Wi-Fi hotspots, termed public data offices (PDOs) after the public call office (PCO) concept rolled out by the Indian government to set up a nationwide network of landline public pay-phones.

Why is a public Wi-Fi network needed in India?

The first and foremost reason being given by experts for laying down a public wi-fi network is to increase the proliferation of internet services in the country. With PDOs — which will basically be mom and pop stores and other small retail outlets across the length and breadth of the country — last mile connectivity is being aimed at. In addition to this, several telecom sector experts have pointed to the fact that even in urban areas with sufficient mobile data coverage, the mobile internet tariffs are bound to increase. This presents an even stronger business case for the public Wi-Fi network.

Public Wifi Network For Hospitals In India

Every individual needs to be connected to the digital world. Whether there are at their homes, colleges, offices, railway station, hospitals, etc, many latch on the daily needs to the free Wi-Fi hotspots for online surfing. 

Public Wifi Systems In Indian Hospitals

Currently, the healthcare system in India requires extensive Wi-Fi support for many of its devices all at once. And not to forget the roaming capabilities as well as the continuous, reliable connections for various equipment. 

The major aspect of a wireless network is that for being at the top performance and high quality, the access points have to be placed effectively all around the hospital campus. 

Why Public WI-FI System Work Great for Hospitals in India? 

Wi-Fi provides medical professionals the ability to track the data of patients in real-time. And these would be way better than the traditional software. Furthermore, it would be very much easier for hospitals in creating procedures for delivering the necessary medical information, like lab results using Wi-Fi-connected devices. That means they are quick and seamless. 

Worldwide 88% of hospitals are using mobile-based electronic health record applications with Public Wi-Fi

Besides that, it provides medical professionals the ability to gain access to a huge number of medical databases with a single click of a button. That even makes it easy to view why patient care would be improved through the usage of the Public Wi-Fi System in India

Well, It is not all about Medicines

The most interesting aspect is that Indian hospitals are getting behind this shift in technology. Plus, they are trying ways to implement it beyond the realm of their medical staff. 

So, it marks a huge change in the attitude related to patient-centric care compared to what most of us see. No doubt, hospitals are very much aware of the huge benefits that Wi-Fi brings to their staff and even patients. However, now their attention is purely on making sure that visitors and patients can get the same level of access and care that is present in most of the Wi-Fi technology

CONCLUSION

The usage of public Wi-Fi systems in hospitals in India can be a great way for medical professionals in accessing patient records. Also, it bridges the technology gap that doctors go through and presents the best time-consuming activity for patients. 

 

Leading India To Digital Revolution Through PM Wani Wi-Fi

Currently, most people still haven’t realized the effectiveness of having a free Wifi system for their personal work and business. Well, the PM WANI Wifi Internet Access, that the central government has introduced is the latest scheme that aims to increase the usage of Wi-Fi access all over the country. 

What is PM Wani Wifi Internet Access Scheme?

Now as a part of this scheme, the government plans to provide internet connectivity using the PDOs (Public Data Offices). As per this scheme, it aims to boost the easy methods of doing business and even lead to ease of living. 
With this scheme, small-time business owners and shopkeepers get the fastest and best Wi-Fi services. So, it boosts their income and helps the younger generations like students to get seamless internet for their studies and research work. Plus, it helps to strengthen the Digital India mission. 

What Does PM Wani Wifi Internet Access Contain?

The Wani framework has the below components – 

● PDO (Public Data Office)
This would establish, maintain and operate only on the WANI-compliant Wi-Fi-based access points. Plus, it can help to provide the best broadband services to subscribers. 

● PDOA (Public Data Office Aggregator)
This would be the aggregator of PDOs and even do the functions that are related to authorization and accounting. 

● App Provider
It would create an app for registering users and discovering the WANI-compliant Wi-Fi hotspots right at the nearby area. Also, it would show the same that is within the app for accessing the internet service. 

● Central Registry
This would maintain the whole details of the app providers, PDOAs, and the PDOs. Plus, another major important aspect is that regarding the Central Registry, it would be maintained by the C-DoT. 

How Would The PM WANI Wifi Internet Access Scheme Works?
Well, the working of the scheme would be simple and it works in the following ways – 

● Firstly, any of the entities that are desirous in planning to be the PDO can set the Wi-Fi access point. All they have to do is purchase the network services from the service provider. 
● After that, the PDO would register with the PDOA that is registered on the app. 
● Now as soon as any potential user is present in the vicinity of the Wi-Fi access point registers and authenticates on the app, they just need to choose the PDO for connecting. Here this request would be sent to the relevant PDOA. And once the PDOA authenticates the user, the tariff plan gets displayed. 
● After the payment has been made to the PDOA, the PDOA registers the user. Also, they would provide them with the necessary Wifi access. 


….Making India Digital….

No doubt, the PM WANI Wifi internet access is the best tool for bringing India to the digital revolution.

 

Smart & Powerful Ways to Use Wi-Fi Marketing in The Hospitality Industry.

Hotel and resort visitors expect to find complimentary Wi-Fi access during their stay, so hospitality businesses must incorporate this benefit into their offerings to give customers what they want and need.

On the surface, it might seem like offering free Wi-Fi to guests at hotels and resorts is just a way to please guests who expect to have this amenity. But when you dive deeper into what is possible with Wi-Fi marketing in the hospitality industry, you find that this tool serves hotel management just as much, if not more, than guests. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Wi-fi marketing in the hospitality industry gives hotels many smart ways to improve their business. Here are a few ways that a hotel can benefit by giving free Wi-Fi access to their guests.

Collect Demographic Data on Guests

When you use Wi-Fi marketing, you have options for how you require guests to sign up to access the service. You can create your own login system, or you can sync with Facebook and enable guests to sign up using their Facebook accounts.

The benefit of using Facebook as a log-in source is that when guests sign in via this method, you get access to troves of customer data. You can learn about guest demographics, interests, and even spending habits. This data can provide valuable insights as you strive to learn about your customer base and craft messages that will be most likely to resonate with them.

Share Marketing Messages on Login Splash Pages

A large portion of guests use free Wi-Fi when it’s offered at a hotel. That means most guests will visit the designated Wi-Fi splash landing page to enter their information and log in. Knowing that most of your guests will visit this specific landing page gives you the opportunity to market and connect with audiences on this page. 

You can design this page to share important information about your property and highlight upcoming events and time-sensitive details. You can also use this page market to guests and promote offers, up-sells, and paid on-property amenities. It’s a prime place for sharing essential details and deals.

Promote Using Personalized Page Redirects

Once guests use your login landing page, you can use their data and guest profile information to set up page redirects so they are sent to a new landing page personalized just for them.

For example, if the guest has stayed at your property more than once, you can send them to a page about your customer loyalty program. Or, if the guest is staying with you for the first time, you can send them to a page that offers a virtual tour of the location. The personalized approach improves customer experience and gives you an opportunity to engage in more targeted marketing.

Track Foot Traffic on Your Property

A feature of Wi-Fi marketing in the hospitality industry that many businesses don’t know about is the tool’s ability to track users as they move around a location. When guests log in to free Wi-Fi via their mobile devices, the system can track where the user is on the property.

This information can be used to create heat maps that show you where guests spend the most time on your property. It can also offer insights into guest habits. You can see what parts of the property guests use most, what areas they ignore, how long they wait for amenities, and even if they take the wrong routes to rooms. All of this information can be used to improve your operations process, optimize your on-site digital wayfinding, and develop ideas for changes to on-site amenities.

Create Guest Profiles and Track Brand Engagements

When guests log in to Wi-Fi marketing, you can also set up a system that creates a profile for them. This profile may include information pulled from the user’s Facebook page or connect with other supporting data systems that add details to their profile. It can include information about the user’s engagement with the hotel, tracking how long they stay, how often they visit, duration of time between stays, etc.

With Wi-Fi marketing, you can also require an email address or phone number for users to sign up, which gives you a way to remarket to guests at a later time. You can then use details from the guest’s customer profile to determine what messages would best resonate with them based on their interests, habits, and engagement with the hotel property.

Top Requirements for Enterprise WLAN

Businesses are increasingly feeling the need to re-architect their enterprise networks in order to accommodate the rapidly growing demand for wireless connectivity. With mobility becoming central to operations in many businesses, a proper wireless network is an absolute necessity.  

With an enterprise wireless network, enterprise typically get the following advantages over a traditional wireless network:

  • Better collaboration capabilities. Your users can move from room to room without losing access to applications and files that require a persistent network connection.
  • Centralized management. Administrators can configure and manage the network from a centralized location as opposed to doing the same tasks on each AP.
  • Better compliance capabilities. It usually comes with security features and settings designed for meeting regulatory compliance and security policy requirements.
  • Better end user experience. All network-based processes will be faster, clearer, and less susceptible to disruptions.

We’ve collected the top requirements that every enterprise grade wireless network should meet.

Cloud Based Controller

Network admin should be able to easily deploy, operate, and manage every access point within the network. Doing so should allow for one framework that offers organizations the same level of security, scalability, reliability, ease of deployment and management that they’d expect from wired networks.

Easy Management of Central or Remote APs

Network admin should be able to easily deploy, operate, and manage every access point within the network. Doing so should allow for one framework that offers organizations the same level of security, scalability, reliability, ease of deployment and management that they’d expect from wired networks.

Security

Wireless network security is a major concern in the enterprise, especially for those businesses covered by data privacy and security legislations. Many wireless products support secure layer 3 mobility by letting clients roam across subnets without session disruption.

Scalability for Business Growth

With the ability to deploy multiple access points comes a greater capability to scale your Wi-Fi network as your business grows. Once put in place, this modular approach makes as-needed expansion relatively easy.

Guest Wi-Fi

Enterprise Wi-Fi should allow you to create guest user accounts. Guest accounts can be firewalled from the rest of the network, enhancing your security since these users won’t be able to gain access to sensitive data.

Radio Resource Management

WLAN Controllers are usually able to assign channels to access points statically and dynamically in response to co-channel and RF interference. Controllers may also be able to adjust transmit power to reduce interference when an access point goes down, reduce the impact of channel changes on real-time applications.

Firewall and VLAN

Wireless controllers are able to enforce centrally defined policies related to traffic inspection and segmentation. Other capabilities could include SSID or RADIUS based VLAN tag assignment, role based traffic inspection, and traffic reporting.

QoS (Quality of Service)

Today’s businesses make extensive use of VoIP technologies and video conferencing software like Teams, zoom, Skype or Webex in order to allow geographically separated colleagues and business partners to collaborate, discuss, plan, present, or troubleshoot. All these activities require crystal clear video and, more importantly, audio. Therefore, you’ll have to make sure your enterprise wireless network readily supports QoS (Quality of Service).

Ajna offers a fully cloud managed experience for offices and enterprises, allowing customers to use a mobile app and control everything about their Wi-Fi experience. Udaya series of products are all managed centrally from a public cloud including configuration, monitoring, captive portals, SMS sign-on, payment gateway interfaces and analytics. Taking serious security measures to put any apprehensions customers may have at ease, the company used its deep expertise gained from working with its telecom customers over the years and applied it to improve security and QoS.

Working from Home?

The coronavirus pandemic has forced billions of people across the world to stay indoors and work/learn from home. People are consuming data for working from home, online learning, entertainment though OTT platform (streaming videos on platforms like Hotstar, Amazon etc.), video calls through various apps like Google meet,  Skype, MS Teams and Zoom and relying more on social media and social networks to stay connected as we define what our new normal looks like.

The sudden surge in people being forced to work from home has increased the demand of broadband and mobile networks manifold. Since it is new normal that people are working from home, besides kids are attending online classes, other family members are spending more time in watching web series, mobile internet was not enough for most Indian families. People need to get wired broadband connection to meet their requirements. Wi-Fi connectivity has now become one of the most essential utilities for Indian households.

In today’s connected home where 10+ devices are competing for network resources, reliable Wi-Fi connectivity, devices and data security are new concerns every day.

People are facing the following remote work challenges:

  • Home Wi-Fi equipment is old: No support for 5Ghz.
  • 2.4Ghz interference: Microwave Oven/Cordless phones are creating interference.
  • Unreliable and low Wi-Fi signal strength in the home: Leading to lower levels of employee productivity and thus, business results.
  • Too many users: Home network contention with family devices leading to sudden dropped calls, choppy video conferences, and lagging collaboration systems.
  • Zero or very little home network security: Leading to a stronger likelihood of attacks on corporate systems and data, even with using VPN software.
  • Support: Corporate Helpdesk cannot support “home/ISP” Routers.
  • Range: Users are too far away from their router.
  • Setup: Setting up and maintaining a traditional wireless home network is daunting, even if you’re tech-savvy.

As the people are stuck at homes, professionals are working from home and students are using online classes to continue studying.

UIAPL provides a frustration-free way to access your Home Wi-Fi network. It delivers a consistently strong signal everywhere you need it and as your home and family expands, you can easily add more Access Points. It works with any internet service provider in the world so your ISP support will remain unchanged, and its simple app-based setup will get you up and running in minutes.

The solution is comprised of Access Points, Cloud Subscription and UIAPL Mobile App where:

  • Companies can co-manage employee work devices with UIAPL.
  • You can optimize your home network for improved productivity and a better work-from-home experience.
  • You are able to setup “secure tunnel” to compatible firewall/VPN, and you don’t need to run VPN software.
  • You can manage your Home Wi-Fi from anywhere through UIAPL mobile app.
  • You can limit access to specific websites and control connected device access to the network.
  • You can create an isolated Wi-Fi network for guest internet access where guests can connected through fixable authentication (Mobile OTP/ Social login etc.)
  • You will have a centralized dashboard to show you connected users, their usage, audit, session logs, and more.
  • If you need more coverage? Just add more Access Points. There are no limitations. No matter how many points you have, they are all part of one seamless network.
  • You can set UIAPL up in minutes. People with little or no technical knowledge can installed it in minutes.