The Rs 27,000 crore broadband project will connect 1.5 lakh villages via mix of underground/aerial optical fibre network
The second phase of BharatNet, the government's ambitious project to connect villages through broadband at an estimated cost of Rs 27,000 crore, may be rolled out soon.
A draft Cabinet note for the same has already been floated for inter-ministerial consultations and will be taken for the Cabinet approval by July-August, a senior official from the ministry of communications told DNA Money on the condition of anonymity.
The second phase will connect 150,000 gram panchayats (GPs) through a mix of underground and aerial optical fibre network (OFN).
The first phase of the project, estimated to cost Rs 20,000 crore for connecting 100,000 gram panchayats, is already underway but has missed its target of March 2017 because of equipment issues, the official added.
The data from Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL), the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for BharatNet, shows that till 25 June this year, only 21,790 gram panchayats were connected with the internet.
The Telecom Commission, the highest decision-making body of the Department of Telecommunications, had earlier this year given its approval to implement the rest two phases of the BharatNet project.
An optimal mix of underground/aerial OFC, radio and satellite will be used in the second phase with a target date of December 2018. The phase three will be a futuristic network with ring topology to be used between districts and blocks and blocks and GPs with a target of 2023.
In the first phase, only underground optical fibre has been used.
The discussions with states and distribution companies are already on for laying of aerial OFC on the electricity lines.
So far, ten states have submitted their plan for survey/GIS mapping of their power lines. Of these, approval has been accorded for the release of fund to five states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Bihar and Tamil Nadu, the official from the ministry added.
BharatNet project will offer an internet speed of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) and is critical to the success of the government's Digital India initiative.
While BBNL was created as an SPV to execute the BharatNet project, Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is being used for funding of the project.
The project is being executed by three public sector companies — Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Power Grid Corp of India Ltd and RailTel Corp of India Ltd.
In the Budget this year, finance minister Arun Jaitley had increased the allocation of BharatNet project to Rs 10,000 crore for 2017-18, up from Rs 6,000 crore the previous year.
As on April this year, USOF has a corpus of Rs 48,534 crore for 2017-18, the data from the site of USOF showed.
...& ANALYSIS
- BharatNet project will offer an internet speed of 100 Mbps & is critical to the success of the government’s Digital India initiative
- The project is being executed by three PSUs — BSNL, Power Grid Corp, RailTel Corp of India Ltd
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 "Optical fibre network")
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The Telecom Commission, the highest decision-making body of the Department of Telecommunications, had earlier this year given its approval to implement the rest two phases of the BharatNet project.
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