Wi-fi is a miracle. Not because it lets you go online wherever it’s offered, but because there’s no bureaucratic headache whenever users connect to a network.

This is only possible because of what’s called “unlicensed spectrum” that governments leave open. In India, more is about to be added to it. Call it the first real systemic reform for wi-fi in the country.

The plan is hardly new. It’s rooted in a roadmap developed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in 2023. And it’s an outcome that tech companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft have been lobbying hard for. After all, if the goal is to give hundreds of millions of people in India a fast internet connection wherever they are—at home or at bus stops, in schools or in shops—then licensed mobile networks just can’t do the whole job on their own.

But India’s telcos are not thrilled about this development. They want that space for future 5G expansions.

Sumit Chakraborty explains the conflict in this week’s Make India Competitive Again, as read by Brady Ng.

Read this edition as a newsletter: https://the-ken.com/newsletter/make-india-competitive-again/indias-wi-fi-rebellion-comes-for-airtel-reliance-jios-turf/

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