The Department of Telecom is assessing various models to accelerate the rollout of National Optical Fibre Network in the country which has been aimed towards linking all panchayats with broadband connectivity.
The options which are being evaluated for the same include restructuring BBNL (Bharat Broadband Network Limited) which was the special purpose vehicle for the project or handing over the entire task to BSNL and holding the officers involved accountable for NOFN’s execution.
“There has been too much delay in NOFN. About 3-4 models are being worked out which will be presented before the minister (Ravi Shankar Prasad) who will take the final call on it,” is what a government official said. The project was approved back in 2011 with a budget of Rs 20,000 crore by the UPA government to be completed by 2012. The deadline was then pushed to December 2013 and then to September 2015 reports The I.E .
Times changed and so did the government. The BJP led government has connecting villages through broadband as one of its key promises so it will surely be up to the task. Let us see how it all pans out for the rural India.
