In submissions to TRAI’s consultation on the proliferation of public Wi-Fi networks, COAI, Bharti Airtel, VIL, and Reliance Jio argued that India differs fundamentally from countries where public Wi-Fi has become a major connectivity layer. Instead, they said mobile broadband has already emerged as the primary means of internet access for most users.
COAI argued that the “need for public Wi-Fi networks has substantially diminished“, while Airtel described India as an “overwhelmingly mobile-first market“. Vodafone said public Wi-Fi should be viewed through the “prism of scale, timing, relevance and use-case in Indian market”, while Jio contended that although public Wi-Fi retains some value, “the answer lies beyond regulatory interventions“.
Despite differences in emphasis, the submissions largely converged on one point: public Wi-Fi’s biggest challenge is not regulation, but consumer demand.
‘Public Wi-Fi has lost relevance’: COAI’s submission takes a strong position against further public Wi-Fi expansion. The industry body argues that affordable mobile broadband has made dedicated public Wi-Fi infrastructure increasingly unnecessary. According to COAI, consumers prefer mobile data because of its “cost-effectiveness, convenience, and enhanced security”.
The association repeatedly frames India’s connectivity story as a market success. It notes that broadband subscribers have grown from 137 million in 2015 to more than one billion in 2025, while data prices have fallen sharply and monthly consumption has surged.
As a result, COAI argues that “the case for large-scale Public Wi-Fi expansion in India is significantly weakened” and that “Public Wi-Fi has lost its relevance”. The submission also highlights operational barriers such as “discovery, authentication requirements, and security concerns”, arguing that these have contributed to persistently low adoption.
Vodafone says India is not Europe or South Korea: VIL advances a similar position but spends considerably more time arguing that international public Wi-Fi models do not apply to India.
The operator says public Wi-Fi may be useful in “high-footfall, indoor environments, airports, railway stations, shopping malls”, but insists policymakers should evaluate the issue through the “prism of scale, timing, relevance and use-case in Indian market”.
According to Vodafone, the key challenge is that India already enjoys some of the world’s cheapest mobile broadband. The company argues that many foreign public Wi-Fi programmes emerged because mobile data remained expensive, whereas India presents an “entirely inverted market reality“.
The submission warns of “deep structural misalignments between the Public Wi-Fi model and the revealed preferences of Indian consumers”. Consequently, Vodafone argues that policymakers should “study and monitor, not intervention from Government in shape of policy…
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