College students to now receive 'free Wi-Fi', courtesy Reliance Jio
What's the story
Reliance Jio is everywhere. After bombarding with free feature phones, Reliance Jio is all set to offer free Wi-Fi to around three crore college students across the country.
As per the government sources, the company has submitted a proposal in this regard to the HRD ministry.
Reportedly, the proposal is being examined by the ministry and a decision remains to be taken.
Beneficiary
Colleges to benefit from Reliance Jio's free Wi-Fi scheme
Reliance Jio which is proposing free access to Wi-Fi, aims to give students free internet connection and provide educational resources such as online courses.
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.
Proposal to HRD
Tender to be floated for a transparent process: HRD Ministry
Reliance Jio which is proposing free Wi-Fi has sent a proposal last month itself to HRD ministry to connect close to 38,000 colleges for deploying the same.
However, the HRD Ministry said to ensure a fair and transparent process, a tender would be floated.
Meanwhile, even HRD ministry's proposal to provide free Wi-Fi to central universities is also likely to take off this year.
Background
A look at Universities already benefiting from Jio's free Wi-Fi
In May this year, an MoU for providing free Wi-Fi in the campuses of government ITIs, polytechnics and engineering colleges was signed between private firm Reliance Jio and Punjab government.
Similarly, last year in December, Mumbai University signed an MoU with Reliance Jio to provide free Wi-Fi services in its 833 affiliated colleges and research centres on their campus.
Information
Reliance Jio's 4G student SIM card
This isn't the first time that Reliance Jio is coming up with friendly schemes for the student community. Earlier, Jio came up with 4G student SIM card which gave 25% additional Wi-Fi data on every recharge. It was applicable for both prepaid and postpaid connections.