The Foreign Investment and Promotion Board (FIPB) has granted permission to New Call Telecom to acquire public Wi-Fi provider Ozone Networks.

New Call Telecom is of the view that the acquisition of Ozone Networks will help the company concentrate on realising the potential that public Wi-Fi offers, bringing it to new cities in India, as well as rolling it out for rural communities too.

Ozone Networks has the largest number of public and private Wi-Fi hotspots in India. The company has deployed 2,000 public hotspots with 6,500 total access points across the country, which includes private hotspots in educational institutions, hospitals and hotels. In November 2014, Ozone had also signed a ‘Wi-Fi as a service’ strategic partnership agreement with Ericsson to provide carrier-grade Wi-Fi network across 30 cities in India.