DoT and rural development ministry jointly plan Wi-Fi services in rural areas
21 Nov 2013
The Department of Telecom (DoT) and the ministry of rural development are jointly considering extension of Wi-Fi services in rural areas, using the National Optical Fibre Network, which was being laid to connect 2.5 lakh villages, reports citing sources said.
With Wi-Fi, consumers can connect to the internet without using mobile data services, the report said. Devices such as tablet computers that had only Wi-Fi connectivity are cheaper than those that could also use cellular data services.
DoT estimates the proposal to involve an outlay of Rs3,900 crore and an additional annual expenditure of Rs2,060 crore.
According to an official source, the capex would be met out of USO (Universal Service Obligation) Fund and operating expenditure would be met by the rural development ministry for a period of 10 years.
According to the ministry of rural development, it had no such provision in its budget and it would need cabinet approval to fund the proposal.
The next meeting on the proposal would likely be held in the last week of this month. The cabinet had approved Rs20,000 crore for the optical fibre network project in 2011 and its completion is expected in 2014-15.
