-Includes five Railway stations across SCR Zone i.e., Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Tenali, Guntur and Vijayawada.
In a milestone achievement, RailTel, a mini Ratna PSU under Ministry of Railways today launched Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme based access of its Public WiFi services across 100 Railway Stations having 2384 WiFi hotspots. These stations are spread in 22 states whichinclude71 stations in A1 &ACategory and29 other category stations.
The soft launch of this public friendly services was done by Shri Puneet Chawla Chairman and Managing Director, RailTel.,at a programme held at New Delhi today. Dr. RajkumarUpadhyay Executive Director and Chairman of Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), an autonomous Telecom R&D centre of DoT, Govt. of India was present on the occasion.
To access this WiFi network, presently android based Mobile App named ‘Wi-DOT’ can be used which is available on Google Play Store. Mobile App can be downloaded from the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.cdot.wani.app.android.tnt
This app has been developed in closed coordination with C-DOT.This method of accessing Wi-Fi through ‘ mobile app’would be in addition to existing method of accessingWiFi at these stations through conventional method of selecting RailWireService Set Identifier(SSID).
PM-WANI based access will facilitate ease of use through one time Know Your Customer (KYC) to avoidOne Time Password (OTP) based authentication, every time one tries to use WANI based Public WiFi.List of hundred stations is attached here with this press note.
RailTel’sWiFi network is now spread across 6102 Rly Stations across India has 17, 792 WiFi hotspots, and is still growing. Later,PM-WANI based access of RailTel’s public Wi-Fi services would be extended to all 6102 Railway Stations (where Wi-Fi facility is already available) in phased manner by the end of June 2022 (total 1000 Stations by 10th June, 3000 Stations by 20thJune and all 6102 by 30th June’22).WiFi, the world over is adopted to complement Long Term Evolution ( LTE)based broadband access.
WiFi hotspots hold an important place in last mile connectivity for delivery of broadband internet access to users. PM-WANI is an ambitious program of Department of Telecom, Government of India tofacilitate ease of use and proliferatethe broadband usage for masses. C-DOT has designed and developed the framework of PM-WANI. The small shopkeepers can become PDOs (Public Data Offices) as last mile access service providers and take services from PDOAs (PDO aggregators) for Internet & backend services (ISPs or Wi-Fi service providers).
RailTel’s Wi-Fi network at Railway Stations is serving more than 1.2 mn unique users/day (pre-covid). RailTel offers free Wi-Fi for first 30 minutes at Railway stations, beyond which paid Wi-Fi usage can be bought through online digital channels.
Talking about it, Chairman and Managing Director Shri Puneet Chawla said, “RailTel being the most widespread integrated Wi-Fi network of country supporting the largest footfall of Wi-Fi users, is taking an anchor role in entire PM-WANI eco-system, by continuous engagement with regulatory bodies and industry players, to enhance evolving framework. RailTel will extend its WiFi footprints beyond Rly Stations by leveraging its partnership with more than 7000 last mile service providers to establish Wi-Fi hotspots in underserved areas. RailTel is also making continuous effort in providing broadband internet connectivity to more and more rural areas as part of digital India mission. ” .
Dr. RajKumarUpadhyay, Executive Director and Chairman Board C-DOT underscored the key role of indigenously designed & developed technologies in meeting the specific requirements of diverse geography of India including rural and remote areas. He stressed upon the synergistic engagement between C-DOT and RailTel that will spur innovation leading to design, development & deployment of indigenous technologies in national networks including Indian Railways. PM-WANI hotspots would prove effective in extending cost-effective Internet to passengers at rural and remote railway stations across the country. He congratulated RailTel for the launch of prestigious PM-WANI framework and assured that C-DOT will work relentlessly towards aligning its indigenous Telecom R&D endeavours with the specific requirements of RailTel for meeting the overreaching objectives of national development. As we have signed a MOU with RailTel, we will collaborate in many more areas.
The Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme has been launched at five Railway stations on SCR zone, as detailed below:
| S.No | Station Name | Station
Code | Category | Division | Railway Zone | State |
| 1 | Hyderabad | HYB | A1 | Secunderabad | SCR | Telangana |
| 2 | Secunderabad Jn. | SC | A1 | Secunderabad | SCR | Telangana |
| 3 | Tenali Jn. | TEL | A | Vijayawada | SCR | Andhra Pradesh |
| 4 | Guntur Jn. | GNT | A | Guntur | SCR | Andhra Pradesh |
| 5 | Vijayawada | BZA | A1 | Vijayawada | SCR | Andhra Pradesh |
