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In Context
- The implementation of BharatNet has slowed and is likely to miss the 2025 completion deadline owing to a number of factors.
Progress made so far
- As of February 2022, only about 1.72 lakh of the initially targeted 2.5 lakh gram panchayats had been connected to the central grid under BharatNet.
- Of these, 1.5 lakh gram panchayats had been connected by 2017, within the first three years of the project being re-christened ‘BharatNet’.
About BharatNet Project
- It is a project envisioned by the Government of India to digitally connect all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and Villages of India.
- It originally aimed to provide broadband services at 100 Mbps to around 2.5 lakh gram panchayats of the country.
- It is a highly scalable network infrastructure accessible on a non-discriminatory basis.
- It is the world’s largest rural connectivity scheme to be connected by the Optical Fibre network.
- Aim: To provide on-demand, affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households of India especially in rural areas.
- Implementing Agency: The project is being implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).
- Funding: The entire project is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which was set up for improving telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country.
- The scope of work under BharatNet PPP Project includes:
- Connecting the remaining unconnected GPs under BharatNet project (Phase 1 & Phase 2) and all the inhabited Villages beyond the GPs.
- Upgradation of the existing BharatNet Network from Linear to Ring topology.
- Operation and Maintenance (O&M) and Utilisation of the existing as well as the newly deployed network.
- Support: Central Public Sector in Undertakings (CPSUs) BSNL, RailTel, and PGCIL are providing the optical fibre network for broadband connections for the BharatNet project.
- Benefits:
- It would reduce the cost of broadband services in India.
- It would have advantages like easy maintenance, faster implementation, and utilisation of the present power line infrastructure.
- It would provide internet connectivity to citizens especially in rural areas via Wi-Fi Hotspots.
- It would provide a boost to the economy and would generate around 10 crore man-days of employment during the rollout of the project.
- It will help in the expedition of government’s initiatives such as Make In India, Start-up India, Stand-up India etc
- It is considered to be the backbone of ‘Digital India’ aiming to reduce the digital divide between urban and rural India.
Source:IE
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