Cheap Internet Links In Rural Areas Planned

Rural and remote areas in India are to get cheap internet connectivity under the proposed new internet policy, which plans to treble internet connections from the present 50,000 in about three years time.

Educational institutions and government offices in rural areas will be hooked up to Ernet, the Department of Electronics (DoE) network, which connects scientific and research institutions at present.

The network will be taken to the villages through Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) network. A part of the funds for the project will come from the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) programme, officials said.

The computers and other hardware could be financed from various funding sources meant for rural development, while the Centre will bear the costs of connectivity, sources said.

 

Operating on 64 kilo bytes per second lines at present, the Ernet international link is intended to be upgraded to a 2 mega bytes per seconds link, in keeping with the projected explosive growth.

Ernet, which started out in 1990, now provides internet connectivity to almost all premier educational institutions. It is a recognised internet service provider (ISP) under the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) scheme of licensing ISPs.

The DoE feels that with internet penetrating into rural areas, cheap communication will be possible and bring villages closer to cities around the world. The Ernet connections to institutions and public office are expected to be free, but private users in the rural areas, will be charged a fee which is yet to be decided. It will be cheaper than what VSNL charges now, said sources.

The DoE plan is to take its Ernet network to all corners of the country in about three years time. Since the backbone network will be based on V-SAT through a data line, the quality of reception will be a lot better than via a phone line, sources said.

The DoE is seeking a separate international link for its Ernet as it feels the VSNL gateway is slow for the kind of services it is planning to offer in its proposed village network. It feels that accessibility can be faster, if the VSNL interface is avoided.

Another problem the DoE has to grapple with is that calls within India are routed via the international network, leading to considerable wastage of time.

A proposal has been made to set up a national switch, which will filter out domestic and international calls and redirect the former within the country.