Lok Sabha Question No. 1309 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-25
Subject: Public Data Offices
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: HARI BABU KAMBHAMPATI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1309 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 th   JULY, 2018

## PUBLIC DATA OFFICES

1309. DR. KAMBHAMPATI HARIBABU:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the targets under the BharatNet project have been revised and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (b) the role of the Public Data Offices (PDO) to be setup under the BharatNet project along  with  the  mechanism  for  operation,  control  and  regulation  of  Public  Data  Office Aggregators; and
- (c) the  details  of  skill  development  initiatives,  if  any,  for  enhanced  employability  of youth in the upcoming digital communication revolution as envisaged under draft telecom policy?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) The design, strategy to implement and target of BharatNet has been modified in order to align it with the vision of Digital India, on July 19, 2017. The Cabinet approved a modified strategy for implementing BharatNet in three Phases:

-  Phase I -Connecting 1,00,000 Gram  Panchayats(GPs) with high speed Broadband  which  is  already  completed  in  December  2017  and  executed  by  3 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) viz. BSNL, RailTel and PGCIL.
-  Phase II - The remaining 1,50,000 GPs (approx.) are targeted to be implemented by March 2019.
-  Phase III - To upgrade the network to meet the future requirements.

Government has approved the project  at  a  total  estimated  cost  of  Rs.  42,068 Crore  (exclusive  of  GST,  octroi  and  local  taxes)  which  includes  Rs.  11,148  Crore  for Phase-I  and  Rs.  30,920  crore  for  Phase-II  and  other  activities,  to  be  funded  from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

In  Phase-II,  the  modified  strategy  includes  laying  of  Fibre  from  Block  to  Gram Panchayats instead of laying fibre from Fibre Point of Interconnect (FPOI) to GPs. Thus, the use of new fibre from Block to GPs would make the network more stable and also enhance the quality of service. The implementation of the Phase-II is being done through States  and  private  sector,  in  addition  to  CPSEs.  The  connectivity  is  to  be  provided through an optimal mix of underground/ aerial OFC, radio and satellite media. Further, last mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband technology, is to be provided to cover all the approx. 2,50,000 GPs in the country.

(b) At present, there is no provision to set up Public Data Offices (PDO) under the BharatNet project.

(c) One of the goals of the proposed National Digital Communications Policy-2018 is to  train  /re-skill  1  million  manpower  for  building  New  Age  Skills  by  building  human resource capital to facilitate  employment opportunities in Digital Communication Sector through the following strategies:

-  Building  national  capacity  and  institutional  capabilities  in  telecom  security  tools, standards and forensics including in manufacturing of critical telecom equipment.
-  Creating educational resources relating to the communications sector and making them  available  in  open  and  accessible  format  to  promote  self-directed  and collaborative learning through interactive formats, including audio, video and text.

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