<div>Prime Minister Narendra Modi aspiration is to connect the people of India through Digital India in the next few years. The task has been taken over by Bharat-Net, earlier known as National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) to lay fibre optic network across India.</div><div> </div><div>The NOFN was an idea of the Telecom Commission of 2011.</div><div> </div><div>It was started by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), under Department of Telecom (DoT). It was launched to build a broadband infrastructure network connecting block headquarters to gram panchayats. 2.5 lakh villages will be covered under it.</div><div> </div><div>Bharat-Net is an overhaul of BBNL, bringing in greater autonomy, flexibility and industry leadership that enables quick decision-making.</div><div> </div><div>The government of India set up an expert committee this year including former department of electronics and information technology secretary J Satyanarayana, former Nasscom presidents Som Mittal and Kiran Karnik, and Aruna Sundararajan, administrator, USO Fund. The committee has recommended upgrading and renaming the project Bharat-Net in keeping with the Modi government idea of Digital India.</div><div> </div><div>Digital India targets 1.75 million broadband connections by 2017 and 600 million by 2020 at a minimum 2 Mbps download speed with the availability of at least 100Mbps.</div><div> </div><div>The implementation of the project can result in benefits of Rs 66,465 crore in the first year of commissioning.</div><div> </div><div>BBNL staff should be of world class with representation from key government agencies, industry, finance, telecommunications, project management and consultancy.</div><div> </div><div>A Bharat-Net Council headed by the IT minister will be set up and required to meet bi-annually for inter-agency coordination while committees will be established at the state level to troubleshoot Bharat-Net implementation.</div><div> </div><div>Adequate funding flows along with the creation of formal channels of communication with state governments, ministries and stakeholder agencies for smoother project implementation is needed.</div><div> </div><div>The demand for bandwidth and its pricing should be left to market forces while keeping a ceiling on retail tariff to ensure affordability. The state government-led model, the centre public sector unit-led model and the private sector-led model is required for the success of Bharat-Net.</div><div> </div><div>Telecom Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad has urged private telecom operators to give an active support to government without the motive of profit making. He also called for private players support to meet the demand of growing internet users in rural areas.</div>
