TFP Bureau, New Delhi, June 16, 2025: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today released the Telecommunication Tariff (71st Amendment) Order, 2025, establishing new tariff guidelines for retail broadband connectivity to Public Data Offices (PDOs) operating under the government’s PM-WANI public Wi-Fi initiative.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had earlier raised concerns about the slow rollout of the PM-WANI scheme, attributing the limited proliferation partly to the high costs charged by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). These providers often required PDOs to connect public Wi-Fi access points through expensive Internet Leased Lines (ILL), hampering affordable service delivery.
In response, TRAI initiated a consultation process beginning with a draft tariff order in August 2024, proposing alignment of PDO broadband tariffs with retail Fiber to the Home (FTTH) broadband rates. Following stakeholder feedback, DoT amended the PM-WANI framework in September 2024 to remove mandatory commercial agreements between PDOs and service providers for internet connectivity.
TRAI then issued a revised draft order in January 2025, proposing that tariffs for PDO broadband services should not exceed twice the retail FTTH broadband tariff for the equivalent capacity. After further consultations and an Open House Discussion in April 2025, TRAI finalized the new tariff order today.
Under the new order, all service providers offering retail FTTH broadband services up to 200 Mbps must provide PDOs under PM-WANI with broadband plans at tariffs no more than twice those offered to regular retail subscribers for the same bandwidth.
This framework aims to strike a balance—ensuring affordability for smaller PDO operators while fairly compensating broadband providers. It also reflects current market realities and is designed to foster sustainable, inclusive growth of the public Wi-Fi ecosystem in India.
The full Telecommunication Tariff (71st Amendment) Order, 2025, is available on the TRAI website. For further information, interested parties may contact Shri Vijay Kumar, Advisor (Financial & Economic Analysis), TRAI.
