Rashtrapati Bhavan now completely Wi-Fi-enabled

President Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated 24 hot spots with 30 Wi-Fi access points in the President's Estate, making it 100 per cent Wi-Fi.

Mukherjee said India was ranked 89th in the Network Readiness Index, which is  led by countries like Singapore, Finland and Sweden.

He called upon the authorities to ensure availability of infrastructure for internet and ICT-enabled services across the country and use it in a systematic manner. He said Wi-Fi services could be rolled out in public places across the country, both in urban and rural India.

The President said India, with 244 million, ranks third after China and the US in terms of the number of internet users. However, the penetration of internet use as a percentage of the population is only 20 per cent, indicating not only a huge gap but significant potential for growth as well.

With 960 million mobile phones today, India is the world's second largest market behind China and will soon reach the billion mark.

"We have more than 77 mobile phone connections per 100 citizens, which is commendable in terms of the penetration achieved by us in mobile telephony,"aid.

Mukherjee said in the absence or poor presence of an effective communication strategy, a large segment of the intended beneficiary population remains unaware of the various benefits that the government creates for them.

Often, it becomes difficult to ensure that government policies and programmes reach the general population in various parts of the country, he said ading the idea of bringing information to the doorsteps of citizens through network would be a revolutionary step to transform India int to a Digital India.