Over 95 per cent villages now have access to Internet

New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS) Under the 'Digital India' Initiative, more than 95 per cent of villages now have access to the Internet with 3G/4G mobile connectivity, the Centre informed on Friday.

Out of a total of 954.4 million Internet subscribers in India, there are 398.35 million rural Internet subscribers (as of March), according to the Ministry of Communications.

Further, out of 6,44,131 villages in the country, 6,12,952 villages are having 3G/4G mobile connectivity. Thus, 95.15 per cent of villages have access to the internet (as of April).

Under the 'Digital India' initiative, the government has taken several initiatives to connect not only Metros but also tier-2 and tier-3 cities as well as rural and remote areas.

The total internet subscribers in the country have increased from 251.59 million to 954.4 million in March at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.26 per cent.

"The last 10 years have seen a vast expansion of the telecom network covering all corners of Bharat including tier-2/3 cities and villages," said the government.

To provide broadband services to rural households, with the 'BharatNet' project, all gram panchayats (GPs) in the country will be connected with Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connectivity.

Out of a total of 2.22 lakh GPs envisaged under the two phases BharatNet, 2.13 lakh GPs have been made service ready, informed the government.

"Also, the Amended BharatNet Programme aims to provide optical fibre connectivity to 42,000 uncovered GPs and remaining 3.84 lakh villages on-demand basis and to provide 1.5 crore rural home fibre connections," said the Ministry.

The government has also amended licensing conditions in August 2022 to facilitate the installation of mobile towers in border areas.

The Centre also issued 'Indian Telegraph Right of Way (RoW) Rules 2016' and amended rules from time to time for faster and easier rollout of telecom infrastructure.

The RoW permissions for the installation of mobile towers have been facilitated in border areas by the launch of the Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal for faster RoW approvals.