HRD examining Jio’s proposal to provide free Wi-Fi in colleges

After announcing free phones, Reliance Jio now wants to provide free Wi-Fi to three crore college students across the country.

According to sources in the government, the company has submitted a proposal in this regard to the human resource development (HRD) ministry.

Sources further said that the proposal is being examined by the ministry and a final decision is yet to be taken. However, officials said any such proposal will have to go through a transparent tender process.

Last month, a proposal was received by the ministry in which Reliance Jio expressed a desire to connect close to 38,000 colleges (technical and nontechnical) under the HRD ministry across India by deploying free Wi-Fi connectivity.

“Through this free access to Wi-Fi all students will be able to get internet connection and will also be able to use educational resources through the National Knowledge Network such as online courses available on SWAYAM platform among others. The company has said it will create hotspots for this,” said a source.

This is the first time that the ministry has received a proposal from a telecom service provider to give access to free Wi-Fi connectivity to students in college campus but it will not be unlimited.

“Though they are not charging us any money for this project but we can’t approve any such project without giving a fair chance to others too. A tender will be called for this so that it is a fair and transparent process,” added the source.

Sources further said that JIO made a presentation to the ministry last month regarding the project.

When contacted by HT, Reliance Jio representatives refused to offer any comment on the issue.

The HRD ministry’s proposal to provide free Wi-Fi to central universities which has been in the pipeline for quite some time is also likely to take off this year. Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar had recently announced that 38 universities across India would be made Wi-Fi enabled. The plan is set to be complete by August 31 and includes some of the premier colleges in the country.

Though they are not charging us any money for this project but we can’t approve any such project without giving a fair chance to others too. A tender will be called for this so that it is a fair and transparent process.