(a) whether the Government proposes to start Internet Café on the lines of STD booth in rural and semi-urban areas on franchise basis;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government also proposes to make available broad band services at tehsil headquarter; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD)
(a) & (b) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is already providing facility of Internet Dhabas in rural, semi-urban and urban areas in the country on franchise basis. Presently BSNL has 4178 Internet Dhabas throughout the country.
(c) & (d) Government has announced Broadband Policy in the month of October, 2004. In this policy, no roll-out obligation has been specified for the service providers. However, Government has envisioned accelerated growth of Broadband subscribers in the country targeting 9 million and 20 million Broadband subscribers by the end of 2007 and 2010 respectively.