Starting 15th August 2018, a new paradigm of the Internet revolution is hitting India – Every college and University will have to provide free Internet for students, and a minimum of 1 GB per student per month has been proposed.
No, these are not mere speculations or words of fiction, because Ministry of Human Resource and Development has already issued an order regarding this.
Govt. To Colleges – Give Free Internet To Students
The HRD Ministry has sent a notice to all 900 universities and 40,000 affiliated colleges across India regarding free WiFi facility on their campuses.
The deadline for this massive exercise is August 15th, India’s Independence Day.
The circular by the HRD Ministry stated:
“The creation of digital campus would require a large national effort involving both private and public players.”
Interestingly, last year, Mukesh Ambani had proposed to deploy free Wifi across 38,000 colleges in India, which covered both technical and non-technical courses.
As per reports, Govt. is now considering that proposal.
How Will The Free WiFi On Campus Work?
As per the notice sent by HRD Ministry, colleges and Universities have been asked to collaborate with private players and execute the mission to provide at least 1GB of free data per student, per month.
Govt has made it clear that the educational institutions are not supposed to spend their own money for the same.
The notice said,
“It is expected that the facility is to be provided by telecom service and internet service providers at their own cost. There shall be no financial implications to the institution …”
As per initial reports, colleges and Universities will tie up with private telecom players, and partner with them to set up the required infrastructure for the project.
Network equipment which includes optical fibre, access switches, wireless access points and security equipment etc would be established by the telecom players and space would be provided by the concerned college.
As per the guidelines, minimum of 4 Mbps speed would be provided, and facility to connect two devices should be provided.
Besides, the network requirements would be such that the student would be able to directly connect with National Knowledge Network (NKN) to access any educational content.
If you are a student, then we would be especially interested to know your views on this development!