Government Reworking its Model to connect 2.5 lakh villages under BharatNet

Government of India along with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are reworking to achieve the target of connecting 2.5 lakh villages with broadband under BharatNet program within the given time frame.

BharatNet with its ambition of setting up broadband hubs in 2.5 lakh villages is critical to the success of the Prime Minister’s Digital India program of building a 24x7 connectivity between Government and the people and shift all economic and social activities on to e-highway, a panel of experts said at the 12th International Conference Broadband Tech India 2015 at New Delhi. The conference was organized by Bharat Exhibitions.

While speaking at the inaugural session, Mr. Peeyush Agrawal, ITS, Member (Technology), Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India highlighted the steps taken by the Government in expediting completion of BharatNet with fiber networks within stipulated timeframe. He said, “the implementation of these would attract more capital in the telecom structure in the country. The Centre has issued new guidelines to the States on critical issues in the spread of BharatNet like granting right of way to the fibre cables and setting up of telecom towers.”

The other related issue creating bottlenecks in setting up the networks and the severe constraints on expanding the housetop telecom towers came into focus as the service operators and network installers tried to identify the reasons why the country was falling behind even less developed neighboring countries in this area. Mr. T.R. Dua, Director General, Tower & Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) asked how many more towers could be set up when in Delhi itself the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) is charging Rs 7.5 crores for a two kilometer right away. “Telecom Infrastructure roadblocks are a major impediment in moving to Digital India,” said Mr. Dua. By connecting 2.5 lakh Panchayat across the country Digital India could transform India into an empowered society.

Mr. Arvind Kumar, Advisor (Network, Spectrum & Licensing - I), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) during his discourse said that the telecom regulatory had recently issued a consultation paper listing three models for enabling a change in architecture so as to negate the broadband based on fiber or wireless due to low satisfactory level of service. He suggested an intense public response and suggestions on the models suggested in the consultation paper available on the regulator’s web site. “Broadband is a market maker, not just a service”, he said.

In a presentation on “transforming society in a digital world” by Mr. Anuj Kumar Srivastava, Executive Director, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, he revealed how the very definition of what constituted broadband was changing over the years. From 1 Gbps for the entire country in South Korea, 100Mbps to every home by 2016 in home in Finland to 30 Mbps for 2020 for all Europeans defined by European Union the definition was changing. The national broadband target in India is to achieve 600 million connections by 2020 starting with over half of India’s total broadband users accessing Internet through mobile or tablet devices now. He said that by now it was clear that India’s GDP would be richer by 3.6 billion dollars for every percentage point increase in mobile broad band penetration.

Digital India was centered on three key areas like digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen, governance and service on demand and digital empowerment of citizens. Mr. Srivastava averred in his presentation. It also envisaged total change in every aspect of the economy and service including target of net zero import in electronics.

In an environment rapid change in technology in telecommunication in the world, India had the advantage of early start in Internet protocol aid to Mr. MF Farooqui, IAS, Chairman, Broadband India Forum (BIF). While BharatNet has a huge promise in terms of benefit across the economy and society, the complexity of the project implementation and even the question of who would effectively do it to achieve the target were being debated. He cautioned about changing boundary conditions in the setting up and use of the network and especially the weaknesses in project planning in government structures.

Among the problems faced in implementing broadband networks was the fact that what could happen in the future was already confronting policy makers, said Mr. Shyam P. Mardikar, Chief - Strategy, Architecture & Engineering, Bharti Airtel. As an example, he cited the fact that India was four or five times behind others in building telecom towers. “We are ready to take up the challenge even though future turns into present faster than we can tackle it”, he added setting the technology and architectural challenge in broadband coverage of the country.

With India also wanting to touch broadband speed of 100 Mbps in the coming years from the present 2Mbps, the country had a long way to go from its present position of rank 117 in the average net speed, according to Mr. Brajesh Jain, President, Spectranet. His company was having the plan to provide vibrant broadband of upto 1 Gbps per customer at user level with emphasis on individual user specialty. OFC networks were essential for such a transforming experience, he added.