USO Fund undertakes rural broadband penetration scheme

   Print    Email

Email To		[Close]
		You must make entries in all fields
Your Email
Your Name
Send to Email
		Send

In an initial agreement with state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) will provide 8.6 lakh broadband connections in rural areas over a period of five years. The exact amount of the deal is yet to be disclosed.

The USOF was set up in 2003 to ensure that telecommunication developments in rural areas are not left behind. It deliberates on mobile phone, wired telephone and internet service penetration in the rural areas of the country. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has also invited private players who would be interested in helping better the telecommunication infrastructures in rural areas. The DoT has, however, set standards for potential entrants by requiring them to have proper licenses and infrastructures that can support connections to these areas.

The DoT had previously planned to use WiMax technology to take last-mile broadband services to rural areas under the USOF scheme for broadband internet using wireless technologies. WiMax spectrums were supposed to be auctioned along with the 3G mobile spectrum auctions. But with the inter-ministerial disagreement which has kept delaying the process, the DoT has decided to go ahead and use ADSL technology. The DoT clarified that this move does not replace the initial plan of using wireless technologies but is an addition to it.

Experts, however, are looking at this decision with scepticism because of the high costs involved in setting up a wired-network in rural areas for broadband access.

The delay in rolling out 3G and WiMax services adds to the overall broadband penetration woes in the country. At a not-so-impressive figure of just 5 million broadband connections across the country, the government needs to act swiftly to ensure a proportionate growth of accessible internet bandwidth to the people of the country.