BIF Connectivity Accelerator Program launched by Rajaraman

BIF Connectivity Accelerator Program to enable entrepreneurs and startups to build innovative connectivity solutions and support the Public Wi-Fi ecosystem including the PM-WANI Public Wi-Fi Policy was launched by K. Rajaraman, Chairperson – Digital Communication Commission (DCC) and Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

Present on the occasion as eminent Speakers were Dr. R. K. Upadhyay, Executive Director, C-DoT; Osama Manzar, Founder & Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation; Rajiv Aggarwal, Head of Public Policy, India at Meta; Satyam Darmora, Co-Founder & CEO, i2e1; Srinivas Gudipudi, Founder & CEO, MatreComm Technologies; Dr. S. N. Gupta, Chairman, Bluetown India and BIMSTEC; and K. Manohar Raja, Chairman, BIF’s Wi-Fi Committee and Executive Director, RailTel.

A session on the vital aspect of ‘How to overcome the Challenges in acceleration of PM-WANI’ with Session Chair S. K. Singhal, DDG-DS, DoT, and Industry Experts – Bryan Tan, Director, Meta Connectivity Ecosystem; Samar Shailendra, Sr. Standards Architect, Intel; Vivek Dua, General Manager, CFA, BSNL; Prof. Rekha Jain, Visiting Prof. ICRIER; Dr. C. S. Rao, Founder & CEO, QuadGen; Sai Manapragada, Chairman & CEO, XiFi Networks; K. Manohar Raja, Executive Director, RailTel; and Rishikesh Ghare, Founder & CEO, Indio Networks.

Chief Guest K. Rajaraman, Chairperson – DCC & Secretary – DoT said, “The proliferation of Public Wi-Fi Hotspots will lead to increased employment for small and micro entrepreneurs, and provide them with an additional source of income. The telecom and internet service providers will also benefit due to the sale of bandwidth to PDOs. The developments under the scheme have been steady, with already more than 56,000 access points deployed, more than 129 PDOAs and 64 app providers registered. But there is still massive scope for growth of the Public Wi-Fi ecosystem in the country, which should be leveraged by micro and small entrepreneurs as an add-on business activity in urban and rural areas.”

I am pleased to know that BIF’s Connectivity Accelerator Program aims to help expedite this process by facilitating a nurturing environment for entrepreneurship and innovations to flourish, and add to the success of PM WANI added Rajaraman.

BIF President, T. V. Ramachandran said, “Broadband India Forum, together with several partners, is launching the BIF Connectivity Accelerator Program to enable entrepreneurs and startups to build innovative connectivity solutions and support the Public Wi-Fi ecosystem, including the PM-WANI Public Wi-Fi Policy. This virtual program will give startups the opportunity to partner with BIF to help develop relevant use cases and help scale their businesses. We appeal to all stakeholders to come together and join hands with us to expeditiously and effectively implement this national mission.”

Rajiv Aggarwal, Head of Public Policy, India, Meta – a key partner of BIF’s Connectivity Accelerator Program said, “In recent years, we have seen phenomenal growth of many young startups working on internet connectivity solutions in India. We hope this accelerator will help further stimulate startups in the connectivity ecosystem, especially PM-WANI.”