A total of 1,21,652 panchayats in the country have been connected by laying 3,01,154-km-long optical fibre cable. The cable laying and equipment installation works have been completed in 1,16,411 panchayats which are service ready
Manoj Sinha | MoS (IC), Ministry of Communication
New Delhi: Around 3,470 gram panchayats in Odisha have received access to Internet through BharatNet project, an initiative of Union government to connect rural areas of the country by broadband, said Ministry of Communication, Wednesday.
According to the ministry, till December 2, a total of 3,805 gram panchayats in Odisha were connected under BharatNet project by laying 11,729-km-long optical fibre cable. The ministry further stated that the cable laying and equipment installation works have been completed in 3,470 gram panchayats, which are service ready.
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Communication Manoj Sinha said his ministry has implemented BharatNet project to connect all the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats by broadband in a phased manner.
“A total of 1,21,652 panchayats have been connected by laying 3,01,154-km optical fibre cable. Optical fibre cable laying and equipment installation have been completed in 1,16,411 panchayats which are service ready,” added Sinha.
He further said that Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in 39,359 panchayats and, out of them, services are being provided at 10,775 panchayats, catering to more than 11 lakh subscribers with a data usage of over 50 tetra byte per month.
“The Cabinet has approved a proposal for providing mobile connectivity in inhabited and uncovered villages at 4,072 tower locations identified by Ministry of Home Affairs in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected areas in 10 states in Phase-II. This includes 483 tower locations in Odisha using 2G + 4G technology,” Sinha stated.
Notably, the minister’s response came in response to an unstarred question by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Kulamani Samal seeking details of the measures taken up by the Union government to ensure better Internet and broadband network in the country, including Odisha.
