According to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), 94 per cent of villages in India have been covered by high-speed internet. Out of the 590,000 census villages nationwide, 37,439 villages are yet to get high-speed internet.
Among these, Karnataka has come out as the best performing states as far as rural internet connectivity, with 98 per cent of state’s village covered by high-speed internet (3G and above). In Karnataka, only 608 of the 27,397 villages are not connected.
Among the 14 big states, Punjab, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu are placed better than Karnataka, while Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi and Rajasthan, among others, are trailing.
Separate data shows that 250,000 gram panchayats (GPs) targeted under BharatNet nationally, only 150,000 GPs have optic fibre. Comparatively, 6,247 of the 6,268 targeted in Karnataka already have optic fibre.
Further, the report added that most connections are in urban areas and availed through wireless devices like mobile phones and dongles. And, five states including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), Gujarat and Maharashtra account for 260 million or 35 per cent of all internet connections.
