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Broadband connectivity to rural India
- Govt to lay 5 lakh km optic fibre network to reach every Gram Panchayat
To make available the access to broadband services in rural India, Government of India is planning to spend Rs 18,000 crore over three years to lay a five lakh km optic fibre cable (OFC) network to reach every gram panchayat.
An infrastructure company will be carved out of BSNL to implement the project and work with other PSUs like Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) and RailTel. The venture will be supported financially by the Universal Services Obligations Fund (USOF), which holds a large amount of unutilized resources.
Upon the direction of cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, a committee on broadband connectivity had been formed with officials from six ministries Telecom, HRD, Rural development, Economic affairs, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Information Technology in addition to the Planning Commission. Chandrasekhar also held discussions with senior officials like TRAI chairman J S Sarma and DoT secretary P J Thomas.
The committee is tasked with creating a roadmap for extending affordable broadband connectivity to all villages by leveraging existing infrastructure and augmentation of optical fibre wherever necessary. It is also mandated to pull financial resources from various ministries, including finding ways to subsidize consumer premise equipment using the USOF.
Source: The Times of India, New Delhi (March 03, 2010)
