How BharatNet is bridging the digital divide between urban and rural India?

By: Team India Tracker

According to the ministry, as of December 2024, 2,09,281 gram panchayats (GPs) were operational on OFC and 6,92,428 km of optical fiber cable (OFC) had been installed under BharatNet.

According to the Ministry of Communications, using the BharatNet infrastructure, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and internet service providers (ISPs) have deployed around 11.97 million fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connections. Using BharatNet, BSNL and other internet service providers (ISPs) have installed 11,97,444 FTTH connections in total. According to the Ministry of Communications' year-end evaluation statement 2024, the total amount of data used on BharatNet in October 2024 was around 1,39,498 terabytes (TB). 

According to the ministry, as of December 2024, 2,09,281 gram panchayats (GPs) were operational on OFC and 6,92,428 km of optical fiber cable (OFC) had been installed under BharatNet. Additionally, 2,14,313 GPs are service-ready since 5,032 GPs have been connected via satellite media. The statement asserts that sales of domestically produced networking and telecom devices increased by 500 percent in FY24 compared to FY20 (base year) thanks to the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for telecom equipment manufacturing.

In order to address the digital divide between the rural and urban areas in the country, the Government of India launched BharatNet in October 2011, an ambitious project aimed at providing affordable high-speed internet access to every Gram Panchayat in the country. 

The Amended BharatNet Program (ABP) was authorized by the government in August 2023. The program offers 2.64 lakh GPs in ring topology internet access using Optical Fibre (OF) connectivity. On a demand basis, OF connectivity will also be made available to the remaining non-GP villages (about 3.8 lakhs). The largest rural broadband connectivity effort in the world is called BharatNet. Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that was created on February 25, 2012, is carrying out the project. The Telecom Commission authorized the project's three-phase implementation on April 30, 2016: 

• Phase I: Using already-existing infrastructure, optical fiber cables were laid to connect one lakh Gram Panchayats. This phase, which was finished in December 2017, created the basic network.
• Phase II: Using satellite, radio, and optical fiber technologies, the coverage was extended to an additional 1.5 lakh Gram Panchayats. This stage involved working together with both private organizations and state governments.
• By incorporating 5G technology, expanding bandwidth capacity, and guaranteeing strong last-mile connectivity, Phase III seeks to future-proof the network. The goal of this continuous phase is to increase dependability and accessibility.

In rural India, BharatNet has had a revolutionary effect, fostering socioeconomic growth in a number of ways:

• Digital Inclusion: By providing high-speed internet to isolated villages, the project has made e-governance services, online learning, and telemedicine accessible. BharatNet's infrastructure is essential to initiatives like the Digital India program.
• Economic potential: Rural communities can access banking services, engage in digital commerce, and investigate business potential with internet connectivity. This greatly increased the amount of money generated in underprivileged communities.
• Education and Healthcare: By enabling telehealth services and digital classrooms, BharatNet has helped close the resource gap in rural areas. Urban centers now provide high-quality education and medical expertise to patients and students.
• Enhancing Local Governance: By implementing e-governance initiatives using BharatNet, Gram Panchayats (GPs) increase public services' efficiency, transparency, and citizen participation.

Some of the steps taken by the government to improve quality of internet services in rural regions and to bridge the urban-rural divide:

• 4G Saturation of uncovered Villages and upgrade of 2G/3G Mobile coverage to 4G.
• Providing submarine cable connectivity to Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Approval of Amended BharatNet Program to provide high speed broadband connectivity to all inhabited villages in the country. The design improvement, at a cost of Rs. 1,39,579 crore, in Amended BharatNet Program addresses several shortcomings of earlier BharatNet 

Apart from the BharatNet, in order to facilitate the spread of 5G services, the government has implemented a number of measures, such as auctioning off enough spectrum for mobile services, implementing a number of financial reforms that permit spectrum sharing, trading, and surrender, streamlining the SACFA (Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocations) clearance process, notifying the public of the Telecommunication (Right of Way) Rules, launching the PM GatiShakti Sanchar portal, and allowing for the time-bound use of street furniture for the installation of small cells and telecom wires.

According to the ministry, the Bharat 6G Alliance, a platform that brings together academia, industry, and the government, has established seven working groups to discuss various aspects of 6G, such as spectrum, device technologies, use cases, standards, green and sustainability, radio access network (RAN) and core networks, artificial intelligence and sensing, and security.

Some of the issues in the implementation of the BharatNet are poor planning, lack of monitoring, deficiency in maintenance and lack of coordination between BSNL and BBNL. The government must focus on addressing these gaps in order to bring a digital revolution in the country.