Modelling and Analysis of Regulatory Interventions for Sustainable Public Wi-Fi Programs The Case of India
Main Article Content
Keywords
public Wi-Fi, digital divide, Internet broadband, agent-based model, Internet backhaul
Abstract
Public Wi-Fi is a suitable technology alternative to mobile broadband for affordable Internet access. With a 2.6 billion population yet to be connected globally, many countries are formulating policies around Public Wi-Fi to bridge the digital divide. India lags considerably in broadband connectivity, with only 44% rural Internet/broadband density. Public Wi-Fi penetration in India is meagre compared to global deployments. The Indian government launched the Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (WANI) as an approved Public Wi-Fi infrastructure in December 2020 with the dual objectives of encouraging local entrepreneurs to become Public Data Offices (PDOs) and offering citizens affordable high-speed Wi-Fi Internet service. However, the scheme has so far met with limited success. The sustainability of these PDOs is critical for the success of the program. We develop an Agent-Based Model of the WANI ecosystem by incorporating the Bass diffusion model for users’ adoption of Internet data service offered by PDOs. Our simulations indicate that offering a one-time subsidy, capping the market share of PDOs, and fixing a lower Internet backhaul tariff will lead to more sustainable and competitive Wi-Fi markets.
References
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Potts, J. (2014). Economics of public WiFi. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 2(1), 10–17. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v2n1.323
Rey, P., & Tirole, J. (2019). Price caps as welfare-enhancing coopetition. Journal of Political Economy, 127( 6), 3018–3069. https://doi.org/10.1086/702014
Rogers, E., (2003). Diffusion of Innovations. 5th ed. New York: Free Press. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL15577453M/Diffusion_of_innovations
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Sarmento, P., & Brandao, A. (2007). Access pricing: A comparison between full deregulation and two alternative instruments of access price regulation, cost-based and retail-minus. Telecommunications Policy, 31(5), 236–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2007.03.003
Schinckus, C. (2019). Agent-based modelling and economic complexity: A diversified perspective. Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, 26(2), 170–188. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABES-12-2018-0108
Schneider, M., & Somers, M. (2006). Organisations as complex adaptive systems: Implications of complexity theory for leadership research. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(4), 351–365, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.04.006
Serafica, R. B., Francisco, K. A., & Oren, Q. C. A. (2023). Making broadband universal: a review of Philippine policies and strategies. PIDS discussion paper series. https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/284630/1/pidsdps2331.pdf (accessed 10 May 2025).
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Valera, I., & Gomez-Rodriguez, M. (2015). Modelling adoption and usage of competing products. In 2015 IEEE International Conference on Data Mining, 409–418. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICDM.2015.40
Van den Velden, J., & Sadowski, B.M. (2023). Creating public value with municipal Wi-Fi networks: a bottom-up methodology. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, 25(2), 77–103. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-12-2019-0107
Venkatesh, G., & Sridhar, V. (2014). Mobile-first strategy for MSMEs in emerging markets. IT Professional, 16(1), 58–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MITP.2014.9
Vila, T., Greenstadt, R., & Molnar, D. (2004). Why we can’t be bothered to read privacy policies. In L. J. Camp & S. Lewis (Eds), Economics of Information Security. Advances in Information Security, Vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-8090-5_11
Wilson, K. (2021). Does public competition crowd out private investment? Evidence from municipal provision of internet access. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2848569 (accessed 20 May 2024).
Xavier, P. (1995). Price cap regulation for telecommunications: How has it performed in practice? Telecommunications Policy, 19(8), 599–617. https://doi.org/10.1016/0308-5961(95)00040-D
Alves, A. M., Brousseau, E., Mimouni, N., & Yeung, T. Y. C. (2021). Competing for policy: Lobbying in the EU wholesale roaming regulation. Telecommunications Policy, 45(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2020.102087
Ariansyah, K. (2022). Managing sustainable adoption of digital terrestrial television: Demand-side and supply-side approaches. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, 24(3), 229–245. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-06-2021-0077
Bass, F. M. (1969). A new product growth for model consumer durables. Management Science, 15(5), 215–227. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.15.5.215
Cable.co.uk. (2025). The cost of 1 GB of mobile data in 237 countries. https://www.cable.co.uk/mobiles/worldwide-data-pricing/ (accessed 23 January 2025).
Chesley, K. A. (2009). The future of municipal wireless in the United States and Europe. (2009). SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1408808 (accessed 22 May 2010).
Dai, W., Baek, J., & Jordan, S. (2014). The impact of data caps on ISP competition. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Game Theory for Networks, 25–27 November 2024, Beijing, China. https://gamenets.eai-conferences.org/2014/index.html (accessed 10 March 2024).
Digital Bharat Nidhi. (2024). Ministry of Communications, Government of India. https://usof.gov.in/en/home (accessed 6 January 2025).
Economic Times, The. (2024). Relief for PhonePe, Google Pay as NPCI extends proposed 30% UPI market share cap deadline to end-2026. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/npci-extends-upi-volume-cap-timeline-by-2-more-years/articleshow/116829131.cms (accessed 14 January 2025).
European Commission (EC). (2024). WIFI4EU: Free Wi-Fi in public spaces. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/activities/wifi4eu (accessed 29 December 2024).
Façanha, L. O., & Resende, M. (2004). Price cap regulation, incentives and quality: The case of Brazilian telecommunications. International Journal of Production Economics, 92(2), 133–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2003.10.015
Fraser, E. M. (2009). The Failure of public Wi-Fi. Journal of Technology Law & Policy, 14(2) Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/jtlp/vol14/iss2/2
Government of India (GoI). (2018). National Digital Communications Policy-2018. Ministry of Communications Department of Telecommunications. https://dot.gov.in/sites/default/files/Final%20NDCP-2018_0.pdf
Government of India (GoI). (2020). Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (WANI) and framework and guidelines for registration. Ministry of Communications Department of Telecommunications. https://dot.gov.in/sites/default/files/2020_12_11%20WANI%20Framework%20Guidelines_0.pdf?download=1 (accessed 21 May 2021).
Hamill, L., & Gilbert, N. (2015). Agent-Based Modelling in Economics (1st ed.). Wiley. Retrieved from https://www.perlego.com/book/997278/agentbased-modelling-in-economics-pdf
Horrigan, J. B., Whitacre, B. E., & Galperin, H. (2024). Understanding uptake in demand-side broadband subsidy programs: The affordable connectivity program case. Telecommunications Policy, 48(8). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2024.102812
Jha, A., & Saha, D. (2025). Exploring pure 4G diffusion in India and its connect with human development and urbanization. Information System Frontiers, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-024-10569-9
Kalish, S., & Lilien, G. L. (1983). Optimal price subsidy policy for accelerating the diffusion of innovation. Marketing Science, 2(4), 407–420. http://www.jstor.org/stable/184033
Koga, T. (2005). R&D Subsidy and self-financed R&D: The case of Japanese high-technology start-ups. Small Business Economics, 24, 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-005-3096-z
Lai, J., & Widmar, N. O. (2021). Revisiting the digital divide in the COVID‐19 era. Applied economic perspectives and policy, 43(1), 458–464. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aepp.13104
Lee, S., and & Park, M. (2016). Bundling and subsidy competition in the mobile telecommunications market: A welfare analysis of subsidy regulation. Korea and the World Economy, 17(2), 267–293. http://www.akes.or.kr/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/17.2.5.-Lee-and-Park267-293.pdf
Ma, J., Ning, N., & Wang, Z. (2022). Analysis of dynamic game with government subsidy in the telecommunication industry. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 55(10), 2103–2108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.10.018
Mikail, K. (2019). Pricing strategies in mobile telecommunication market. Social Mentality and Researcher Thinker Journal, 5(16), 360–371, http://dx.doi.org/10.31576/smryj.24.
Navío-Marco, J., Perez-Leal, R., & Ruiz-Gomez, M. L. (2019). Analysis of the WiFi4EU initiative as a potential instrument to correct digital divide in rural areas in the EU. Presented at 30th European Conference of the International Telecommunications Society, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/10419/205200 (accessed 20 May 2024).
Pahlavan, K., & Krishnamurthy, P. (2021). Evolution and impact of Wi-Fi technology and applications: A historical perspective. International Journal of Wireless Information Networks, 28(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10776-020-00501-8
Parbat, K. (2023). India’s public WiFi coverage falls way short of target. Economic Times, India. https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/indias-public-wifi-coverage-falls-way-short-of-target/101529086 (accessed 20 Mar 2024).
Potts, J. (2014). Economics of public WiFi. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 2(1), 10–17. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v2n1.323
Rey, P., & Tirole, J. (2019). Price caps as welfare-enhancing coopetition. Journal of Political Economy, 127( 6), 3018–3069. https://doi.org/10.1086/702014
Rogers, E., (2003). Diffusion of Innovations. 5th ed. New York: Free Press. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL15577453M/Diffusion_of_innovations
Ross, M. S. (2024). Economic Analysis of Telecommunications Markets and Policy. Doctoral dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/sx61dx89g (accessed 10 April 2025).
Sarmento, P., & Brandao, A. (2007). Access pricing: A comparison between full deregulation and two alternative instruments of access price regulation, cost-based and retail-minus. Telecommunications Policy, 31(5), 236–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2007.03.003
Schinckus, C. (2019). Agent-based modelling and economic complexity: A diversified perspective. Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, 26(2), 170–188. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABES-12-2018-0108
Schneider, M., & Somers, M. (2006). Organisations as complex adaptive systems: Implications of complexity theory for leadership research. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(4), 351–365, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.04.006
Serafica, R. B., Francisco, K. A., & Oren, Q. C. A. (2023). Making broadband universal: a review of Philippine policies and strategies. PIDS discussion paper series. https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/284630/1/pidsdps2331.pdf (accessed 10 May 2025).
Sieck, C. J., Sheon, A., Ancker, J. S., Castek, J., Callahan, B., & Siefer, A. (2021). Digital inclusion as a social determinant of health. NPJ Digital Medicine, 4, 52. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-021-00413-8
Sirin, S. M., & Erten, I. (2022). Price spikes, temporary price caps, and welfare effects of regulatory interventions on wholesale electricity markets. Energy Policy, 163, 112816–112831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112816
Sridhar, V. (2012), Telecom Revolution in India: Technology, Regulation and Policy. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198075530.001.0001
Statista. (2024). Number of public Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide from 2016 to 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/677108/global-public-wi-fi-hotspots/ (accessed 29 December 2024).
Sterman, J. D. (2000). Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modelling for a Complex World. Irwin: McGraw-Hill, https://openlibrary.org/books/OL14752748M/Business_dynamics
Tatsumoto, H. (2021). Open standards and rise of new competition: Why do open standards generate new patterns of competition? In H. Tatsumoto (Ed), Platform Strategy for Global Markets. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6789-0_1
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). (2017). Public Open Wi-Fi Framework. https://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-09/Public_Wifi_Architecture_12072017_0.pdf (accessed 10 January 2025).
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). (2024a). The Indian Telecom Services Yearly Performance Indicators 2023–2024. https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-09/Report_14082024.pdf (accessed 15 January 2025).
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). (2024b). Draft Telecommunications Tariff (Seventieth Amendment) Order 2024. https://cms.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-09/Draft_TTO_23082024_0_0.pdf (accessed 25 December 2024).
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). (2025). Draft Telecommunications Tariff (Seventy First Amendment) Order 2025. https://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/2025-01/Draft_CP_15012025.pdf (accessed 10 April 2025).
Valera, I., & Gomez-Rodriguez, M. (2015). Modelling adoption and usage of competing products. In 2015 IEEE International Conference on Data Mining, 409–418. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICDM.2015.40
Van den Velden, J., & Sadowski, B.M. (2023). Creating public value with municipal Wi-Fi networks: a bottom-up methodology. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, 25(2), 77–103. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-12-2019-0107
Venkatesh, G., & Sridhar, V. (2014). Mobile-first strategy for MSMEs in emerging markets. IT Professional, 16(1), 58–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MITP.2014.9
Vila, T., Greenstadt, R., & Molnar, D. (2004). Why we can’t be bothered to read privacy policies. In L. J. Camp & S. Lewis (Eds), Economics of Information Security. Advances in Information Security, Vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-8090-5_11
Wilson, K. (2021). Does public competition crowd out private investment? Evidence from municipal provision of internet access. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2848569 (accessed 20 May 2024).
Xavier, P. (1995). Price cap regulation for telecommunications: How has it performed in practice? Telecommunications Policy, 19(8), 599–617. https://doi.org/10.1016/0308-5961(95)00040-D
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2025-12-29
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Agrawal, S., & Sridhar, V. (2025). Modelling and Analysis of Regulatory Interventions for Sustainable Public Wi-Fi Programs: The Case of India. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 13(4), 82-104. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v13n4.1287
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How to Cite
Agrawal, S., & Sridhar, V. (2025). Modelling and Analysis of Regulatory Interventions for Sustainable Public Wi-Fi Programs: The Case of India. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 13(4), 82-104. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v13n4.1287
