Reliance Jio aims to provide free Wi-Fi to 3 crore college students in India

After announcing ‘free’ feature phones, Reliance Jio wants to offer free Wi-Fi to almost three core college students in India. The company has submitted a proposal last month to the human resource development (HRD) ministry as well.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, a proposal was received by the ministry in which Reliance Jio expressed a desire to connect close to 38,000 colleges (technical and non-technical) under the HRD ministry across India by deploying free Wi-Fi connectivity.

This would be the first time that the ministry has received such a proposal from a telecom provider but the government wants to ensure that the other providers have a fair chance too. The report added that officials have stated that any such proposal will have to go through a transparent tender process.

The list of colleges under this scheme will be from: Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Central University, Himachal Pradesh, Central University, South Bihar.

Hindustan Times quoted a source saying, “Through this free access to Wi-Fi, all students will be able to get internet connection and use educational resources such as online courses available on SWAYAM platform through the National Knowledge Network. The company plans to create hotspots for this.”