Telecom Secretary recently asked the states to utilise the Bharat Net project's rural broadband infrastructure.
Notably, Bharat Net has largely failed to deliver on its objective, calling for redressal of the shortfalls.
How has the progress been?
Seven years have passed since the National Optical Fibre Network (rechristened BharatNet) project was first envisaged.
The objective was to connect over 2.5 lakh gram panchayats through high-speed broadband.
Already, 1.15 lakh gram panchayats have been connected.
The physical execution of the project is scheduled to be completed by March 2019.
However, when it comes to actual connectivity and utilisation, BharatNet has achieved little.
This is despite thousands of crores of taxpayers’ money having already been spent.
What are the shortfalls?
The onus of preventive and corrective maintenance of the optical fibre portion connecting gram panchayats is with BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd).
The responsibility of remaining network elements lay with other agencies.
Bharat Broadband Nigam Ltd was the special purpose vehicle created to execute the project.
The lack of ownership by BSNL and inability of BBNL in ensuring timely project implementation has cost the nation a great deal.
Though a clear utilisation target has already been set, the actual utilisation on the ground is well less than 10% of the target.
Poor planning, lack of monitoring and co-ordination between the two organisations lead to ineffective implementation.
It points to the lack of professionalism on the part of BBNL and BSNL.
Why is BharatNet crucial?
Indian users are among the top consumers globally when it comes to adopting digitisation and online platforms.
At the centre of this transition to a digital world is the availability of a reliable and affordable data network.
Private telecom companies, including Reliance Jio, have announced plans to connect over 1,100 cities with optical fibre, which will cater to the urban consumers.
But BharatNet is critical to ensure that rural India also benefit from the digital dividend.
Besides this, BharatNet project is expected to -
attract billions of dollars in investments
help train a million youth for new-age jobs
facilitate delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking and other such services
What is to be done?
The weak performance of the project calls for a complete overhaul of the BharatNet implementation machinery.
Quick decisions are essential to fundamentally alter the direction of the project.
State governments must be brought on board to ensure the project gets adequate support at the district and panchayat levels.
Resources and energies would have to be mobilised for gram panchayats to be reached in the shortest possible time.
The industry and government need to team up on projects aimed at bolstering communications infrastructure in the country.
A thorough inquiry into the effectiveness and outcomes of the money already spent is also called for.
