DoT to provide mobile connectivity to 55,669 villages by 2019

The government plans to link 55,669 villages by providing mobile connectivity by March 2019, in a phased manner. Besides, the department of telecom proposes to set up 321 mobile towers to connect 8,621 villages in the North East by September 2016.

A comprehensive telecom development plan for the North East at an estimated cost of Rs5,336.18 crore has already been approved, according to a note made by the department of telecom (DoT) on the progress of providing telephone connections during the two years of the NDA government.

DoT said about 1,517 towers out of 2,199 identified by the ministry of home affairs as areas affected by left wing extremism (LWE), have also started functioning till date.

On the proposed high-speed broadband connectivity in rural India, the department said it has completed laying of optic fibre in 48,199 gram panchayats as on 25 April 2016.

DoT said the BharatNet project has been taken up in mission mode to connect all 2.50 lakh gram panchayats, which have over 600 million people in order to achieve deeper digital penetration in rural areas.

BharatNet will facilitate e-governance services, e-commerce, tele-medicine, tele-education, financial services, among others.

"This would open up new avenues for access service providers like mobile operators, cable TV operators, among others, to launch next generation services and spur creation of local employment opportunities," the DoT said.