National Broad Band Mission- All Indian Villages to Receive 50 Mbps Broadband by 2022

New Delhi: The Minister for Communications, Law & Justice and Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, has said that the National Broadband Mission is to fulfill all aspirations of the people and enables fast track growth of digital communication infrastructure. He was addressing the gathering after launching the National Broadband Mission (NBM) at an event in New Delhi yesterday. Prasad also launched the Logo of the NBM and a booklet.

The vision of the NBM is to fast track growth of digital communications infrastructure, bridge the digital divide, facilitate digital empowerment and inclusion, and provide affordable and universal access of broadband to all citizens.

Structured along the principles of universality, affordability and quality, the Mission aims to enable broadband access to all villages by 2022 and facilitate universal and equitable access to broadband services across the country, especially in rural and remote areas.

The Mission plans to lay an incremental 30 lakh km of optical fiber cable and increase tower density from 0.42 to 1 tower per thousand population by 2024 in order to significantly improving quality of services for mobile and internet. Prasad also said NBM will provide infrastructure capable of delivering high speed broadband upto 50 Mbps by 2022.

NBM intends to develop innovative implementation models for Right of Way (RoW) and to work with States and UTs for consistent policies pertaining to the expansion of digital infrastructure, including for RoW approvals required for laying of OFC, and also to develop a Broadband Readiness Index (BRI) to measure the availability of digital communications infrastructure and conducive policy ecosystem within a State or UT.

The Mission plans for the creation of a digital fiber map of the digital communications network and infrastructure, including optical fiber cables and towers, across the country, while seeking investment from stakeholders of $100 billion (Rs 7 lakh crore) including Rs 70,000 crore from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

NBM will address policy and regulatory changes required to accelerate the expansion and creation of digital infrastructure and services, and work with all stakeholders including the concerned Ministries, Departments, Agencies, and Ministry of Finance, for enabling investments for the Mission.

The Minister of State (MoS) for Communications, Human Resources Development and Electronics & Information Technology, Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre, the Secretary (Telecom), Anshu Prakash and other senior officials were present on the occasion. A large number of representatives from the telecom industry, officers from various Ministries of the Government of India, various State Governments and senior officers of the Department of Telecommunications participated in the event.

Source: Indus Dictum

Image Courtesy:DevDiscourse