India will have 1 billion internet users by end of this fiscal year

Context

• With increasing data usage, the Internet market has grown from around 250 million to 974 million subscribers, says Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region (DONER).

• India has already proven itself to be the second largest telecom market in the world. In the last 11 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, the mobile market grew from roughly 1 billion to 1.2 billion customers; we have also hugely grown data usage and the Internet market from around 250 million to 974 million Internet subscribers. We should be able to hit one billion Internet users within the first half of next year, or even within this fiscal year.

• Calling prices have gone from 50 paise to 0.003 paise a minute; and data has gone from ₹287 to ₹9 a GB. We are today the cheapest data market in the world.

BharatNet Project

• The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) was launched in 2011 and later renamed the BharatNet Project in 2015 under the Ministry of Communications.

• It aimed at providing high-speed broadband connectivity to every Gram Panchayat (GP) across the country.

• It is one of the largest rural telecom projects in the world, designed to offer affordable broadband access and enable the delivery of e-health, e-education, and e governance services in rural India.

• The project initially aimed to connect approximately 2.5 lakh GPs across the country.

Phase I: Connected 1 lakh GPs using optical fiber (OF) cables and existing infrastructure, completed in 2017.

Phase II (ongoing): Expands coverage to 1.5 lakh GPs using optical fiber, radio, and satellite technologies, with collaboration from state governments and private entities.

Phase III (ongoing): Focuses on integrating 5G technologies, increasing bandwidth, and enhancing last-mile connectivity.

• Funding and Execution: BharatNet is primarily funded through the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), a fund that replaced the Universal Service Obligation Fund.

• The project is executed by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), incorporated under the Indian Companies Act 1956.

• Under the ABP, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) serves as the Project Management Agency for the operation and maintenance of the network.