Govt plans fibre-to-the-home services

With BharatNet project in full swing after umpteen delays, the government has set its eyes on the next phase of technology to connect India digitally.

The telecom ministry, in partnership with electronics and IT ministry, is preparing a strategy for offering fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services.

This will be done by involving the private sector, a senior ministry official told DNA Money.

Through FTTH, one can deliver services over optical fibre directly to the home premises from operator's switching equipment. This is being done to avoid issues at the last-mile connectivity.

"While BharatNet is advancing, we need to plan for next-stage intervention which is strategy for fibre to the home. This will bring in more FDI, innovation, employment as well as help in GDP growth," official from the ministry said.

India has just 0.5% penetration for FTTH compared to global countries such as Singapore with 95%, South Korea with 83% penetration, Hong Kong at 71% and Malaysia 16%, according to available figures.

FTTH replaces traditional copper wires which are used currently for last-mile connectivity. In India, FTTH is in a very nascent stage but once implemented, the speed of broadband services will increase manifold. It will also support new-age applications such as tele-medicine, tele-health and other allied services as the bandwidth will also increase.

The target is to have a minimum broadband speed of 10 Mbps for both uplink and downlink with an average revenue per user of Rs 120 per month.

BharatNet will link all gram panchayats (GPs) with broadband connectivity. The first phase is underway and over 1 lakh GPs have been connected through underground optical fibre while 56,150 have been lit. About 30,000 WiFi hotspots are being set up on public-private-partnership mode for last-mile access. For the second phase, another 1 lakh GPs will be connected in partnership with states and private sector and it will be a mix of underground, aerial optical fibre and radio and satellite media.

The target is to provide internet connectivity to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats or village blocks by March 2019. It is an important part of the government's Digital India vision as it looks to offer e-governance services, among others, through an online medium. This project was first launched in 2011 and has seen many delays and cost overruns. The third phase of BharatNet is also being readied with the state-of-the-art network between districts and blocks with ring typology.

In July this year, the Cabinet had approved the second phase of BharatNet for Rs 18,792 crore along with March 2019 as the new deadline for the project. It entailed a total estimated expenditure of Rs 42,068 crore for the implementation of various phases of BharatNet, which will be funded from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). Out of this amount, Rs 11,148 crore is the cost of providing connectivity in phase 1 and Rs 18,792 crore is for providing connectivity to remaining 1.5 lakh Gram Panchayats (GP) in phase-II.

The project will provide minimum 100 Mbps broadband connectivity to all GPs. BharatNet will be able to bridge the digital divide in rural and remote areas by providing robust and reliable network infrastructure for the proliferation of affordable broadband. It will also facilitate electronic delivery of services such as e-governance, e-commerce, e-education, e-health to the citizens, according to officials.

DIGITAL INDIA

• Through FTTH, one can deliver services over optical fibre directly to the home premises from operator's switching equipment. This is being done to avoid issues at the last-mile connectivity
   
• India has just 0.5% penetration for FTTH compared to global countries such as Singapore with 95%, South Korea with 83% penetration, Hong Kong at 71% and Malaysia 16%