(a) whether the Government is planning to provide Wi-Fi in all the villages across the country through GramNet;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;
(c) the number of villages where the Government has already provided the aforementioned services, State/UT-wise; and
(d) whether any private agencies are involved as intermediaries or implementing agencies in the process and if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS,
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)
(a) to (c) 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. As part of BharatNet project, the Last Mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband access technology, is to be provided in all Gram Panchayats.
The State/UT-wise details of Gram Panchayat where Wi-Fi Services have been provided are attached as Annex-I.
(d) In the 1.23 lakh GPs (approx.) of BharatNet Phase-I, the provisioning of Wi-Fi Services has been assigned to Government of Rajasthan, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited(a Special Purpose Vehicle under Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology), etc. In the 1407 GPs of BharatNet Phase-II, the provisioning of connectivity over satellite media, along with Wi-Fi services, has been assigned to BSNL.