Question : Bharat Net Project in Odisha

(a) the number of working broadband connections in Odisha, district-wise;

(b) the steps taken by the Government for providing broadband facility in all gram panchayats under phase-I of BharatNet project;

(c) the number of gram panchayats in Odisha that have been provided with infrastructure to provide high speed broadband connectivity and the steps taken by the Government to connect all villages with internet;

(d) the reasons for poor utilisation, if any, of broadband facility under the phase-I of BharatNet project; and

(e) whether Wi-Fi technology is being widely used in rural areas to provide internet/broadband services under the said project and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to provide Wi-Fi technology in rural areas of Odisha?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, EDUCATION AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

(a) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country, including Odisha. The District-wise details of the functional/active Fibre to the Home (FTTH) broadband connections, provided by utilising the BharatNet network in Odisha, are given in Annexure-I.

(b) to (e) The Phase-I of the project has been implemented in Odisha through Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), and as on 26.02.2021, a total of 3952 Gram Panchayats (Including Block Headquarters) have been made Service Ready in this Phase.

The Phase-II of the BharatNet project in Odisha is being implemented mainly by the State Government under State-led model and they are responsible for providing last mile connectivity also. As on 26.02.2021, a total of 1681 GPs have been made Service ready, including 19 GPs on satellite media. Therefore, in total (Phase-I and Phase-II), total 5,633 GPs (Including BHQs) have been made Service Ready. Further, as part of this project, the last mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband technology, is to be provided at all the GPs in the country.

In Odisha, for Gram Panchayats (GPs) of Phase-I, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited (a Special Purpose Vehicle under Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology) has been assigned the work of provisioning of 1 Wi-Fi Access Point in the GP and 5 Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections to Government Institutions at each GP. As on 26.02.2021, Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in 2514 GPs and 20,960 FTTH connections on BharatNet have been provided.

For connecting about 6 lakh villages on Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) in the country, including in Odisha, the scope of BharatNet project is being expanded.