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The Andhra Pradesh Government has issued right of way to Bharat Broadband Network Ltd for laying optical fibre cable along roads in the State as a part of the National Optical Fibre Network project.
In an order issued by the State Information Technology and Communication (IT&C) Department, the right of way enables laying cables along roads belonging to the Roads and Buildings Department, Panchayat Raj, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, energy and forest departments.
This initiative is part of the National Optical Fibre Network project. The permission will enable Bharat Broadband to roll out the network and make broadband services viable to Government offices as well as citizens at an affordable tariff at the panchayat level.
The Government or its agencies will not levy any right of way charges including reinstatement charges as the information highway being set up is part of the NOFN for the benefit of Government and local communities. This will be State’s contribution towards the project, according to a statement from Ponnala Lakshmaiah, State Minister for Information Technology and Communications.
He said that the network has largely reached State capitals, districts and blocks and it is now proposed to connect all the 2,50,000 gram panchayats in the country by utilising existing fibre of public undertakings such as BSNL, Railtel and Power Grid and laying cable to connect up to gram panchayats.
The project is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund and executed by a special purpose vehicle Bharat Broadband Network Ltd.
It entails an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore and is expected to be completed by 2014-15. Under the project, it is proposed to provide internet bandwidth of 100 mbps for every gram panchayat. The project has potential to transform lives in rural areas including video data, internet and telephone in areas such as education, health, entertainment, business and e-governance on delivery of services.
A pilot project is being implemented at Parawada in Andhra Pradesh, Arian in Rajasthan and Panisagar in North Tripura, the statement said.
>rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in
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