Muft Internet

Muft Internet works on ideas that enable accessible, free and open (neutral) Internet/Information access for end-users. Their vision is to bridge information inequality in India by systematically investing in two research areas – net neutrality and digital divide. From digital literacy to information seeking behaviour and from open source co-development projects to public policy research – they invest their resources in areas that overcome roadblocks to neutral information access. Their projects are the Muft WiFi network which is a community network of free and sustainable WiFi zones; supported by local Internet Service Providers and sponsored via hyperlocal WiFi advertising. Their second product, the Muft WiFi hotspot software for captive portal monetisation is used at schools, colleges, cafes, hotels, and tourist spots. They developed an in-house free-to-use (and soon to be open sourced) cloud controlled Radius (AAA) with mobile-OTP based authentication system. This software substantially increases revenue while utilising idle bandwidth. The Virtual ISP research project is by far one of their most successful projects – as it focuses on micro-distribution of Internet in India.