BSNL targeted to establish telecom links in all Indian villages by 2014

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has undertaken an ambitious project to connect all villages across India via Telephone lines and to make e-governance, facilitate to rural areas. The project undertaken by BSNL is worth Rs 20,000 crore project and is an ambitious project for state owned BSNL, and the target is expected to reach at its verge by 2014.

“The Rs 20,000 crore project for the creation of a ‘National Optical Fibre Network’ (NOFN) for providing internet and other telecommunications connectivity to villages has been launched recently. It would be completed by the next two years,” BSNL CMD R.K. Upadhyaya told reporters.

“Once the NOFN was created, it would help in offering governance, banking and health and other basic services online up to the villages and rural areas,” he said.

The BSNL has also undertaken the responsibility to bring out upgardation changes in the existing Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) network and hiringPGCIL (Power Grid Corporation of India Limited) and RailTel cable network, in the regions of northeastern.

“The BSNL has laid OFC from Kolkata to (Bangladesh capital) Dhaka.

The numbers of telephone lines in India are increasing with a growth rate of 1.04% from 926.53 Million at the end of December 2011 to 936.12 Million at the end of January.

In urban areas the subscribers as on January 2012 in were 615.83 Million while the number of subscribers in rural areas was 320.29 Million. The respective teledensity in urban and rural area as on January 2012 was 168.84% and 38.04%. BSNL is India’s oldest and largest communication service provider (CSP). It had a customer base of 95 million as of June 2011.  It is the largest provider of fixed telephony and fourth largest mobile telephony provider in India, and is also a provider of broadband services. This project will surely bring a revolution in the telecom sector, and will lead the rural areas towards development by connecting them with the growing pace of the nation.