Lok Sabha Question No. 1050 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-02
Subject: Optical Fibre Network
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH, RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY, SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL, Shrirang Appa Barne

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1050

TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 nd  MARCH,  2016

## OPTICAL FIBRE NETWORK

1050.  SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH:

SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY:

SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

Will  the  Minister  of  COMMUNICATIONS  AND  INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government had approved crores of rupees for laying optical fibre network in 2011;
- (b) if so, whether the laying of optical fibre network has missed all the deadlines;
- (c) if so, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  re-examined  the  project  status  with  a  deadline during the current financial year;
- (e) if so, the facts in this regard along with the present status of the project; and
- (f) whether the Government has set up a committee to increase the scope and scale of the project and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a)to (f) National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project  was planned, in 2011,  to connect  all  Gram  Panchayats  (approx.  2.5  lakh)  in  the  country  through  Optical  Fibre Cable (OFC) utilizing existing fibres of  Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) viz. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL)  and RailTel and laying incremental fiber wherever necessary to bridge the connectivity gap between Gram Panchayats (GPs) and Blocks for providing broadband connectivity. The project  is  being  funded  by  the  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  (USOF)  and  initial estimated cost of the project is Rs. 20,100 Crores. The project is being executed by a Special  Purpose  Vehicle  (SPV),  namely,  Bharat  Broadband  Network  Limited  (BBNL), which has been incorporated on 25.02.2012 under Indian Companies Act 1956.  Under this  project,  at  least  100  Mbps  bandwidth has  to  be  provided  in all  the  estimated 2.5 lakh GPs for utilization by all categories of service providers on non-discriminatory basis including Internet Service Providers.

The Project was to be executed in phases. Under Phase-I, one lakh GPs was targeted by 31.03.2015. Considering the vastness of project execution, the very limited resources  deployed  by  the  institutions,  time  required  for  tendering,  mobilisation  of physical  resources,  the  budgeted  resources,  the  time  line  for  completion  of  NOFN project could not be met. The timeline for connecting one lakh GPs with OFC to provide broadband connectivity under Phase-I has been revised to 31.12.2016.

State-wise  status  of  NOFN,  as  on  31.01.2016,  is  given  in  the  Statement  at Annexure-I.

In order to review the strategy and approach towards speedy implementation of NOFN Project, a Committee was constituted on 14th January,  2015. The  Committee submitted its report on 31 st March, 2015. The Committee, inter-alia, recommended that the  project  be  renamed  as  BharatNet  to  reflect  the  national  aspiration  to  establish  a highly  scalable  network  infrastructure  accessible  on  a  non-discriminatory  basis  to realize the vision of Digital India, in partnership with the States and the private sector. Major recommendations of the Committee are given at Annexure-II.

Contd…….3/-

## Statewise status of NOFN (BharatNet) as on  31.01.2016

|   S.No. | States/ UTs         | No. of Gram Panchayats (GPs)- Phase I   | Pipe laid (kms.)   | Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) laid (in kms)   | No. of GPs where OFC laid   | No. of GPs lit   |
|---------|---------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------|
|       1 | Jammu &Kashmir      | 624                                     | 93                 | 69                                        | 47                          | 0                |
|       2 | Himachal Pradesh    | 283                                     | 201                | 75                                        | 14                          | 0                |
|       3 | Punjab              | 6128                                    | 4432               | 3280                                      | 2055                        | 0                |
|       4 | Haryana             | 6090                                    | 4775               | 4340                                      | 2776                        | 45               |
|       5 | Rajasthan           | 6967                                    | 11281              | 10065                                     | 3092                        | 71               |
|       6 | Chandigarh          | 12                                      | 18                 | 19                                        | 12                          | 12               |
|       7 | Uttarakhand         | 1767                                    | 1190               | 862                                       | 554                         | 46               |
|       8 | UP (West)           | 8040                                    | 8095               | 4290                                      | 2055                        | 65               |
|       9 | UP (East)           | 14474                                   | 14634              | 10545                                     | 4764                        | 36               |
|      10 | Bihar               | 5202                                    | 6416               | 5303                                      | 1936                        | 124              |
|      11 | West Bengal         | 2713                                    | 1933               | 1683                                      | 619                         | 0                |
|      12 | Sikkim              | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                |
|      13 | Assam               | 1013                                    | 1751               | 1359                                      | 515                         | 23               |
|      14 | Jharkhand           | 1388                                    | 2600               | 1862                                      | 770                         | 84               |
|      15 | Odisha              | 3388                                    | 4086               | 2960                                      | 1355                        | 12               |
|      16 | Andaman &Nicobar    | 69                                      | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                |
|      17 | Arunachal Pradesh   | 256                                     | 272                | 69                                        | 10                          | 0                |
|      18 | Nagaland            | 743                                     | 1160               | 509                                       | 154                         | 0                |
|      19 | Manipur             | 24                                      | 71                 | 73                                        | 24                          | 0                |
|      20 | Meghalaya           | 638                                     | 737                | 210                                       | 47                          | 0                |
|      21 | Tripura             | 1021                                    | 1277               | 951                                       | 434                         | 40               |
|      22 | Mizoram             | 163                                     | 183                | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                |
|      23 | Madhya Pradesh      | 10516                                   | 15531              | 12134                                     | 3898                        | 26               |
|      24 | Chattishgarh        | 2110                                    | 4368               | 3913                                      | 1258                        | 171              |
|      25 | Gujarat             | 5735                                    | 5508               | 3572                                      | 1648                        | 91               |
|      26 | Maharashtra         | 12055                                   | 11078              | 7826                                      | 3478                        | 37               |
|      27 | Daman &Diu          | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                |
|      28 | Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                |
|      29 | Karanataka          | 5599                                    | 9596               | 9248                                      | 4348                        | 2283             |
|      30 | Andhra Pradesh      | 0                                       | 1913               | 19                                        | 0                           | 0                |
|      31 | Telengana           | 2097                                    | 3912               | 2883                                      | 1296                        | 5                |
|      32 | Tamil Nadu          | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                |
|      33 | Kerala              | 977                                     | 746                | 810                                       | 1129                        | 1129             |
|      34 | Pudducherry         | 98                                      | 82                 | 92                                        | 98                          | 101              |
|      35 | Lakshadweep         | 10                                      | 0                  | 0                                         | 0                           | 0                |
|      36 | Goa*                | -                                       | -                  | -                                         | -                           | -                |

## Annexure-I

## Annexure-II

## Major recommendations of the Committee on National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN)

- (i) Fresh  optical  fibre  (48/96  core)  should  be  laid  in  ring  topology  between District Headquarters (DHQs) and Block Headquarters (BHQs).
- (ii) Gram  Panchayats  with  more  than  500  householdsshould  be  connected  to BHQ  in  ring  topology  (24  core).  Gram  Panchayats  with  lessthan  500 households  situated  upto  a  distance  of  7.5  km  from  BHQ  should  be connected in a linear network through Gigabit Passive Optical Network(GPON).
- (iii) Far flung GPs (over a distance of 7.5 km from BHQ) and having less than 500  households  should  be  connected  through  radio  network  and  very  low household GPs having less than 150 households at a distance of greater than 10 km from BHQ by satellite.
- (iv) Government  Institutions at the District/Block/GP should be provided horizontal connectivity.
- (v) Internet Protocol/ Multi Level Switching Protocol (IP/MPLS) technology for DHQ/BHQ and BHQ/GP rings may be considered.
- (vi) Three  implementation  models,  namely,  State  Led,  CPSU  Led  and  Private Sector Led, may be considered for accelerated roll out of the network.
- (vii) 50%  pairs  of  dark  fibres  at  GP  level  may  be  set  aside  for  allocation  to telecom service providers, multi service operators, local cable operators and internet service providers through auction.
- (viii) Remaining fibre pairs should be provided for bandwidth at wholesale rate to any retail service providers.
- (ix) BBNL should be empowered into Board-led Company and professionalize decision making and accountability so that BBNL's professional staff would operate in organizational framework with clearly defined responsibilities and powers;
- (x) De-layering decision making process by establishing an empowered project group  headed  by  MoC&IT  and  including  Secretaries  of  Department  of Telecommunications  (DoT),  Department  of  Electronics  and  IT  (DeitY), Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion  (DIPP),  Rural  Development,  Power,  Vice-Chairman  of  NITI Aayog and Chairman, BBNL.

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