DoT seeks ISPs to use BharatNet infrastructure to bridge digital divide
Department of Telecommunications
(DoT) has urged the country's internet service provider (ISP) industry to increase the utilisation of the
BharatNet
infrastructure to bridge the digital divide in India.
'We at DBN (Digital Bharat Nidhi) are implementing the amended BharatNet project with an outlay of nearly ₹1.5 lakh crore, which aims to connect nearly 2.6 lakh gram panchayats. I feel that it is a great opportunity for various stakeholders, including ISPs, to be part of this huge exercise taken by the government of India to bridge the digital divide,' Niraj Verma, administrator, DBN, said Tuesday at an industry conference.
BharatNet, a rural telecom connectivity project, is aimed at providing non-discriminatory access to broadband connectivity to all telecom operators, including ISPs, with the objective to connect a total of 6.5 lakh villages.
However, the ambitious digital connectivity has been facing several execution-related challenges despite multiple extensions.
"We have tried twice, Bharat Net Phase 1 and Phase 2, and we did not succeed to that extent due to various reasons. In Phase 1, we tried to connect 1.2 lakh villages, and then in Phase 2, tenders were awarded for eight states. The results had been mixed."Verma added.
Under the BharatNet Phase 3, he said tenders have been awarded in 12 packages, including in major states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, and West Bengal.
State-controlled Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has previously awarded contracts to
Polycab
,
ITI Limited
,
Sterlite Technologies
(STL), Telecommunications Consultants of India Limited (TCIL), and Pratap Technocrats, among others, under multiple packages of the BharatNet Phase 3 programme.
Initially envisioned in 2011 under the UPA-II regime as the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), it was rebranded as BharatNet in 2015.
Read More | Controversies surface over BSNL's ₹1.39 lakh crore BharatNet 3 programme
In July 2022, the Cabinet approved the merger of Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) with BSNL to accelerate project rollout. In August 2023, the Centre approved the
Amended BharatNet Programme
(ABP) to expand fibre connectivity to the remaining 3.8 lakh non-Gram Panchayat villages on a demand basis.
The top official said that nearly 2.12 lakh villages are service-ready today, cautioning that only 50,000 gram panchayats have an uptime of over 98% under BharatNet.
'We have now changed our focus from implementing the project to utilisation of the network and in amended BharatNet, it is a little different in the sense that we are giving the states as packages to EPC contractors, and we have a referee which is in the form of independent engineers,' Verma said.
'The idea is to get the services from this EPC contractor and a network with 98% uptime.'
He added that a stable network offers 'exciting opportunities' to wireline ISPs, who can lease bandwidth or dark fiber to provide backhaul for mobile towers, or deliver broadband services and generate a new revenue model.
'We are engaging BharatNet Udyamis (entrepreneurs) for providing the connections, and anyone, including ISPs, can participate as BNUs under BSNL. ISPs can also have a look at the network that will come up and how they would like to provide services. We are ready to look at any alternate model where our utilisation goes up,' the official said.
Under BharatNet, as of December 2024, 6,92,428 km of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid and 2,09,281 gram panchayats (GPs) are service-ready on OFC. In addition, 5,032 GPs have been connected over satellite media, thus, a total of 2,14,313 GPs are service-ready, the Ministry of Communications said last year.
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