Government Approves Rs 1.39 Lakh Crore For BharatNet Upgrade; Here's What For

The Union Cabinet has approved Rs 1.39 lakh crore for the modernisation of the BharatNet project, the Indian Express reported, citing official sources. It will involve a change in execution strategy, with a focus on providing fibre connections to the last mile through village level entrepreneurs.

With this upgrade, the government aims to expedite the process of connecting all 640,000 villages within the next two and a half years.

Similar to private telcos Airtel and Jio, the government will now involve village level entrepreneurs or Udyamis in providing fibre connections to homes. This will be done on a 50:50 revenue-sharing basis.

Under the revamped model, the government will bear the cost of taking the infrastructure to the home, while the rural entrepreneur will be responsible for maintenance and operations of home connections.

This includes addressing consumer complaints related to fiber cuts, among other things, sources said.

A government official told the Indian Express that during the implementation of BharatNet, the challenge was to provide fibre-based internet to households.

To address this, a successful pilot was conducted in 60,000 villages a year ago, where local partners were involved in connecting households. The government expects that involving Udyamis in the project will create employment opportunities for approximately 250,000 people.

Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL) serves as the implementation agency for BharatNet, which was merged into BSNL in July last year.

The government has connected around 194,000 villages so far and provided internet access to 567,000 households. Out of these, the new BharatNet Udyami project has facilitated 351,000 fibre connections, as per sources.

The approval of the recent package marks the third such initiative for BharatNet by the Centre. In 2017, the Cabinet allocated Rs 42,068 crore for the first two phases. Additionally, in 2021, Rs 19,041 crore was allocated for implementing last-mile connectivity under a PPP model, which unfortunately did not generate significant interest.

Under the BharatNet project, the home broadband package will start at Rs 399 per month, offering unlimited data at a speed of 30 Mbps. This package also includes bundled services such as OTT offerings.

According to the official, BharatNet has an advantage over its competitors because private operators are not present in rural areas. The quality of services provided by BharatNet will also be a deciding factor for customers. To handle complaints, there will be an automated network operation centre in place.

The initial trial of BharatNet showed an average speed of 175 GB per household per month.