(a) whether the Government has any proposal to link all the villages of the country with Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) network in near future;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) if not, the reasons therefor; and
(d) the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) to (d) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner for providing broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats in the country. Phase-I to connect 1 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) through Optical Fibre was completed in December 2017. As on 30.07.2018, the number of Service Ready GPs is 1,13,549. The implementation of Phase II is being done through States, Private Sector and CPSUs by using an optimal mix of media (OFC, Radio and satellite) for providing connectivity to remaining GPs.
Last mile connectivity under BharatNet is being implemented through Wi-Fi networks and utilisation of BharatNet by Service Providers.