The government has announced that it will provide free internet to all the villages connected through common service centres (CSCs) for the next three months.
According to minister of telecommunications, electronics and information technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, the villages connected to BharatNet will get Wi-Fi services free of charge till March 2020.
The move is being undertaken to promote utilisation of BharatNet infrastructure.
The government has already connected 130,000 gram panchayats (GPs) through BharatNet. Further, there are 360,000 CSCs in around 225,000 GPs today. Currently, CSCs have got permission to manage BharatNet’s last mile deployment in 120,000 GPs. Till now, Wi-Fi is available in 48,000 villages.
Prasad further stated that the government’s target is to convert at least 15 per cent of the villages to digital villages during the tenure of this government.
