Internet access in India: Under the 'Digital India' Initiative, the Centre announced that over 95 percent of villages now have access to the Internet with 3G/4G mobile connectivity. As of March, out of 954.4 million Internet subscribers in India, 398.35 million are from rural areas. Additionally, out of 644,131 villages in the country, 612,952 villages have 3G/4G mobile connectivity, which means that 95.15 percent of villages have internet access as of April.
The government has made significant efforts under the 'Digital India' initiative to connect not only major cities but also tier-2 and tier-3 cities, as well as rural and remote areas. The total number of internet subscribers in the country has increased from 251.59 million to 954.4 million in March, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.26 percent.
BharatNet project
Over the past 10 years, there has been extensive expansion of the telecom network, covering all parts of the country, including tier-2/3 cities and villages. Additionally, the 'BharatNet' project aims to provide broadband services to rural households by connecting all gram panchayats (GPs) in the country with Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connectivity. Out of the 2.22 lakh GPs envisioned under the BharatNet project, 2.13 lakh GPs have been made service-ready.
The Amended BharatNet Programme seeks to provide optical fibre connectivity to 42,000 uncovered Gram Panchayats (GPs) and the remaining 3.84 lakh villages on-demand basis, and aims to provide 1.5 crore rural home fibre connections.
Amendments in licensing conditions
The government also amended licensing conditions in August 2022 to make it easier to install mobile towers in border areas. The 'Indian Telegraph Right of Way (RoW) Rules 2016' have been issued and amended from time to time to facilitate the faster and easier rollout of telecom infrastructure.
Furthermore, RoW permissions for the installation of mobile towers have been streamlined in border areas through the launch of the Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal for faster RoW approvals.
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Inputs from IANS
