Govt lines up Bharat Net deployment in Varanasi

Union minister of state for telecommunication Manoj Sinha has announced plans to connect 870 gram panchayats (villages) in Varanasi under the government’s Bharat Net project by the end of the year, the Economic Times reports. Work on deploying fibre-optic backbone infrastructure to the villages has already begun and should be operational by end-December, the official explained, adding that Wi-Fi hotspots were being installed in Jayapur and Nageypur – the two villages ‘adopted’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Bharat Net project is part of the Digital India programme and funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and looks to provide nationwide network infrastructure, accessible on a non-discriminatory basis and capable of providing affordable broadband connections with speeds of between 2Mbps and 20Mbps to all households.