As per industry sources, the government is working on a scheme to provide funding support to telecom companies for taking wireline internet connections to rural households.
To this end, while addressing a Broadband India Forum (BIF) event, Hari Ranjan Rao, Administrator, Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), said that 99 per cent of the villages are now covered with 4G services and getting data at a very low cost.
In addition, Rao mentioned that the fibre-based broadband connection will have to be offered at a very competitive rate in rural areas.
The government aims to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to all 2.5 lakh village panchayats across the country through the Bharatnet project. Detailing the progress, Rao mentioned that 1.47 lakh gram panchayats have been covered as of now.
Meanwhile, as per Rao, in order to accomplish country’s vision to cover 600,000 villages, the government is also looking at alternative technologies to bring broadband to every household in the villages, given the resource constraints.
