BharatNet Programme to Extend Free Wi-Fi and Internet in Villages Till March 2020

In the recent data surge and the growing demand for data, the government has also played a big role. One of the major and audacious projects to connect the villages and the rural areas by the government has been BharatNet. Now in a new development in this regard, the Union minister of electronics and Information Technology has said that the common service centres in the concerned areas will provide internet to the individuals and institutions through BharatNet till the end of the current fiscal year. As per the new ETTelecom report, through BharatNet, people would be able to enjoy free internet until March 2020.

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BharatNet Services to Connect Institutions

While inaugurating the digital village Gurawara, in Rewari, Prasad, remarked, “We have already connected 1.3 lakh gram panchayats through Bharatnet…Our target is to take this to 2.5 lakh Panchayats. To promote utilisation of Bharatnet services we will provide WiFi free in all villages connected through Bharat net till March 2020.”

It is worth noting that the responsibility of handling the last mile connectivity lies with Common Service Centres of BharatNet with a network of 3,60,000 centres. BharatNet has a deployment in 1,20,000 Panchayats. BharatNet is the nationwide fibre network which has been set up to extend fibre connectivity to over 1 lakh panchayats. However, merely extending the fibre network to these panchayats is not the entire solution. There is also the issue of last-mile connectivity so that the users can be connected to the internet and they can make use of it. In these cases, the CSCs would be responsible for handling the last mile connectivity, and these will be responsible for connecting the schools and other institutions with the fibre network. These CSCs would also help the public in connecting to the internet with Wi-Fi or wired fibre connection.