India’s Department of Telecoms has stated its aim of deploying a nationwide fibre optic network by June 2016, a year ahead of the original schedule for the initiative.
The National Optical Fibre Network is being undertaken by state provider BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd), and forms a cornerstone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital India' initiative, which aims to deliver social and economic services via broadband by 2019.
The initiative also involves improving digital literacy among the rural population, and to this effect the DoT is laying out the framework for a plan in which private sector mobile operators encourage users to access services via mobile phone.
IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "NOFN will lead to an empowered India with villages boarding the Internet superway. It will also lead to an explosion of e-commerce in the country.” He urged states to overcome political differences to allow for the network’s implementation, stressing the importance that the network would have for the country’s economy.
"As Internet will reach villages and all the cities, the people there will go online to shop for things, which in turn will lead to expansion of e-commerce and opening up of more warehouses. This will lead to creation of more jobs and growth in the economy," Prasad said.
