Bsnl aims for broadband in every Indian village Sachin PilotIndia is charting a grand scheme targeting its rural outback to reach telecom and broadband services to each of its 626,000 villages, using funds to the tune of $3.5 billion lying unutilised in a dedicated fund. Outlining the contours of this ambitious programme, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot told in an interaction that 11,000 communication towers will be set up for the purpose, several in villages bordering Bangladesh and Pakistan.

“We are close to launching a programme of putting up these towers in villages where the population is less than 500 people and sometimes less than 200. It will be deployed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd,” said the minister.
“You will hear more on this very soon.” He said all service providers – private or state-run – have been allowed to install telecom towers to receive signals within 500 metres near the international borders to strengthen the existing communication system in rural areas.

According to Mr. Pilot, many of the towers will be in the tribal belts of Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Assam in the northeast, as the government’s priority, as opposed to that of private players, was to get villages into the telecom loop as well.