Telecom Ministry proposes revised structure for BharatNet project

The project is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund and executed by Bharat Broadband Network Limited

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology will seek Cabinet approval for phase-II of BharatNet project by September wherein it has been proposed to include state governments and their units for faster implementation and utilisation of cable operators to provide internet to households at the gram panchayat level.

According to an official, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took a review meeting of BharatNet project on June 20 which discussed issues and strategy for the next phase of the project.

The government aims to provide broadband connectivity to all the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats by December 2018, with 1 lakh panchayats to be completed by March 2017 as per the existing framework.The remaining 1.5 lakh panchaysts will be connected through the modified structure of the project which includes more participation of state governments and their units as also private players.

The national optical fibre network (NOFN) project which was conceived in 2011 originally targeted to connect all panchayats by the end of 2013. It was subsequently deferred to September 2015 by the UPA government. After coming to power, the NDA government further revised the timeline for completion of the project and also changed the name of the project to BharatNet.

The project is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and executed by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) through three public sector units - BSNL, Power Grid Corporation and RailTel.

There are various reasons for slower progress of the project which include non-involvement of states and provision of providing broadband only through underground optic fibre cable (OFC). Provisioning of equipment has been a bottleneck as also right of way (RoW) issues of Railways, Forest and Infrastructure Departments of the states.

The official further said BBNL, which is the executing agency for the project, has limited capacity to manage such a vast and complex project.

To speed up the implementation, it has been proposed to involve state public sector units (PSUs) along with the three existing central PSUs apart from providing connectivity by optimal mix of underground OFC, aerial OFC, radio and satellite.

There will be advanced funding to states for conducting GIS mapping of existing electricity lines for aerial OFC deployment. To enhance the usage of Bharatnet, it has been proposed to utilize services of cable operators for last mile connectivity.