Microsoft bats for White-Fi to help Digital India
NEW DELHI: US software major Microsoft Corporation says its newly-developed White-Fi technology can provide free Wi-Fi connectivity to a large section of the Indian population, thus, giving a boost to the Prime Minister's Digital India initiative. White-Fi or television White-Space technology works like Wi-Fi on a bigger scale. "TV White-Space technology puts the unused spectrum in the TV channels to a good effect," Prashant Shukla, national technology officer at Microsoft India, told ET. "This technology has potential to provide free connectivity to large sections of the Indian population through wider coverage and economical deployment and licence-free access." Microsoft argues that low density of population and low-income group segments remain unattractive to commercial telecom providers, and in such a scenario, White-Fi technology can be best suited to provide digital connectivity. To make India truly digital, it is critical to extend broadband in rural...