All villages to have broadband by '12: Minister

NEW DELHI, INDIA: In an effort to provide Government services including broadband connectivity to citizens in rural area, the Government of India has planned to set up about one lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs).

In reply to a question in parliament, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Gurdas Kamat said today there are about 7.19 million broadband subscribers in the country.

The minister also said the government has planned to expand broadband coverage to connect every gram panchayat to broadband network by May 2012.

Kamat told Lok Sabha that Indian Telegraph Act 1885 has been amended to enable provision or USOF support for broadband connectivity to rural and remote areas.

While the world's tele-density as on December 31, 2008 stands at 78.11 per cent, India's tele-density, as on October 31, 2009 is 44.87 per cent. the rural tele-density in the country is 18.97 per cent.

The minister also said that the first phase of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is likely to be implemented by December 31, 2009 in metro cities and Category ‘A’ Service Areas (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu including chennai, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Service Areas). In the rest of the country MNP would be implemented by March 2010.

In reply to yet another question, Kamat said 'National Radio Spectrum Management and Monitoring System (NRSMMS)' has been implemented through a World Bank loan of about US$30 millions to computerize the spectrum management.

The automation of RF spectrum management has resulted in more effective and efficient spectrum management in more transparent manner, he added.