The secretary said at present around 80,000 village panchayats have started broadband services and by December 1 lakh panchayats will roll out services under the Bharat Net project. (Reuters)
The government is working on telecom projects worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore, which will significantly expand digital connectivity in the country, telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said today. “In the next 2-3 years, we expect to see many more initiatives to come because government itself is working on portfolio of Rs 1.30 lakh crore,” Sunadarajan said at a BSNL event. The projects include enhancing telecom connectivity in about 8,600 villages of North-east region, undersea cable connectivity for Andaman and Nicobar Islands, revised communication project for Defence and increasing connectivity in rural area. “With this, telecom infrastructure will see very significant expansion, upgradation and new era of services,” she said.
The secretary said at present around 80,000 village panchayats have started broadband services and by December 1 lakh panchayats will roll out services under the Bharat Net project. She also said India has become cheaper both in terms of services and devices by a factor of 10 compared to rest of the world under the present regime.
