The Indian government has approved discussion of a bill that would provide free Internet access to every Indian citizen.
"No citizen shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may prevent him or her from accessing internet facilities," says the proposed bill. It was first introduced in December 2023 in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India's parliament) by V Sivadasan from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which is part of the opposition.
Bills that are introduced by private members require the president’s approval, which is enabled by the relevant ministry. According to media reports, the newly elected telecom minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, has encouraged the parliament to discuss the bill.
The bill seeks to provide the right to free Internet access to all citizens, which the government would need to ensure. The proposed legislation would achieve its goal by broadening the existing constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression granted to all Indians. It argues that people cannot exercise the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression without access to the Internet.
It would require the central government to either directly provide free Internet access or completely subsidize the services provided by operators. Additionally, the government could provide funds to the states to implement the provisions of the proposed bill.
Digital divide, reliable connectivity and the question of Internet restrictions
The bill raises the problem of the digital divide in the country, with India having one of the largest unconnected populations in the world. According to a recent study conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar, 665 million people, or about 45% of India’s population, still lack access to the Internet.
Most of these areas are in remote and rural parts of the country and are typically ignored by private telecom service providers. While India continues to have one of the lowest voice and data tariffs, the recent tariff hike by the private telcos is unlikely to help the cause of the digital divide.
In addition, the reliability of services is an issue in both the urban and rural environment. A recent OpenSignal report put India into the “Lower Reliability” bracket, where reliability is defined as the ability to perform typical household tasks.
"India presents an example where the urban-rural gap in internet access is relatively small (90 points). This relatively balanced distribution is partially because fixed internet represents a small portion of overall internet access, accounting for only 4.22% as of the end of 2023, due to a high reliance on mobile internet to participate in the digital society. The deployment of fixed internet infrastructure has occurred more recently than in other countries despite cable TV networks being widespread," says the OpenSignal report.
However, the Indian government's tendency to restrict Internet access in case of anti-government protests doesn't help the cause of Internet for all. India recorded the second-highest number of Internet restrictions in Asia in 2023, with 11 out of the total of 55, according to Surfshark.
The recent launch of Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel provides a ray of hope as service providers will be able to cost-effectively address the connectivity requirements of people in rural and remote areas. Furthermore, now that there is regulatory clarity in India, satellite connectivity also promises to make it financially viable for telcos to provide connectivity in the country’s hinterland.
The government has in the past tried to address the problem by launching schemes like PM-WANI, which seeks to set up Wi-Fi hotspots to provide connectivity. Other countries have successfully provided free Wi-Fi for the public, making open Wi-Fi hotspots easy to access at cafés, hotels, hospitals, schools and gas stations. Portugal, Lithuania, and Estonia are three countries that have done this, with Estonia frequently cited as a country where Internet access is easy to get and where there's no significant digital divide between the country's urban and rural residents. In India, the government could use the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) funds to accelerate the expansion of connectivity services in the unconnected areas.