Standing Committee reiterates the need to encourage use of BharatNet Infrastructure
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 26, 2020
It is one thing to have an optical fiber infrastructure across the country even in the remotest corners, but another thing to ensure that this infrastructure is properly utilized. The Standing Committee looking into the BharatNet project has highlighted & reiterated the need to encourage TSPs, ISPs and other players to use this infrastructure.
In the earlier story on Standing Committee’s Action Taken Report on BharatNet, we discussed those recommendations where the Standing Committee did not accept the action taken response by the government.  Apart from these 6 recommendations, there were another 15 recommendations made by the Standing Committee in its 50th Report – ‘Progress of Implementation of BharatNet’. Of these, 10 of the recommendations were accepted by the Government and action wherever necessary was taken. The Standing Committee did not seek any clarification on the response of the government regarding these recommendations. There were 5 more recommendations for which the replies of the government were of interim nature.
In this story, we take a look at these key recommendations of the Standing Committee and the response provided by the government.
Committee observed that fiber network has not reached most of the Gram Panchayats
The second observation of the Standing Committee was regarding the implementation of the project under Phase -I. The committee observed that while the Optical fiber cable (OFC) has reached State, Districts and Block Headquarters, it has not yet been extended to most of the Gram Panchayats (GPs).
Further, the committee observed that the department did not have the far-sightedness regarding the implementation in spite of the magnitude of the project. (Laying of 6.5 lakh Km of Optical Fibre, with the next biggest being the 2 Lakh KM being laid by Broadband Network in Australia). This has affected all the aspects of the project, leading to the delays and missing deadlines.
Reply of the Government
The government highlighted the following challenges which led to the implementation delays of this large-scale project, which had a target of laying around 2.2 lakh KM of OFC in 1 lakh GPs under Phase -1.
The first phase to cover 1 lakh GPs was completed in December 2017. As per the latest update on 04 January 2019,
Based on the observations of Standing Committee regarding the delays in implementation and the overall handling of the project, a mechanism was put in place to ensure the momentum and pace of the project is sustained.
The Committee did not seek any clarification for this response provided by the government.
Utilization of the Infrastructure & need for faster implementation among other observations
Apart from its observation on the delay in the implementation of the project, the committee has also made recommendations and observations on other aspects related to the project – Implementation of Phase -II, Financing & Utilization of the funds, utilization of the infrastructure, performance of implementing agencies etc.
The government responded and provided an update for each of these recommendations/observations. The Standing Committee has taken cognizance of these responses by the government and has not sought any further clarifications. Here is a summary of these other recommendations/observations and the government’s response on the action taken.
Recommendation/Observation
Government’s                                  Response
The committee has observed that there would be a need of around ₹72 thousand crores for laying 17 lakh Km of OFC, with scope of further increase in the costs. Hence the committee has recommended identifying alternate sources of funding apart from the current funding being done through USOF.
As on 31/12/2018, around ₹ 47 thousand crores are available with USOF and these are sufficient for the on-going project.
Standing committee has noted that while these are welcome developments, the utilization is still very low compared to the capacity. Encouragement needs to be provided to ISPs, Cable TV operators, content providers etc. to launch services in rural areas.
Committee asserts that BSNL has tremendous scope of provision and extending its services using BharatNet and that it needs to utilize the available infrastructure.
Phase -III  The Committee has also made recommendations/observations on Phase-II of the project which relates to upgrading of the network to meet future requirements.  One of the propositions is to lay underground OFC suitable for 5G services, Internet of Things etc. Further, the present linear design of Block to GPs might not be suitable for few service providers, for which NOFN has suggested laying of fresh OFC. However, Phase-III was not part of Cabinet note at the end of 2017, for which Committee expressed its dismay as Phase-III is expected to be potentially bigger compared to the first two phases.
Standing Committee has flagged the action taken by government as interim in nature for five of its recommendations
Out of the 21 recommendations, the responses for action taken by the government regarding five of them have been categorized as interim in nature by the standing Committee. These recommendations/observations made by the Standing Committee were mostly regarding Works in Progress or aspects which are yet to be actioned. The department has appraised them of the latest updates.
The committee has not sought further information since it seems to have been satisfied by the interim response provided. These observations were regarding:
Featured Image: BharatNet Infrastructure