Government deploys Wi-Fi hotspots at over 100,000 gram panchayats

Parliament was informed that the centre has installed Wi-Fi hotspots in 104,288 gram panchayats and provided 213,834 fibre-to-the-home connections using the BharatNet network as of February 28, 2022. Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan informed that as of Feb­ruary 28, 2022, a total of 567,941 km of optical fibre cable (OFC) has been laid while a total of 172,361 gram panchayats (168,010 gram pancha­yats on OFC and 4,351 gram panchayats on satellite) have been ma­de service-ready in the country. Meanwhile, as of December 31, 2021, a total of Rs 275.82 billion has been disbursed or utilised under the BharatNet project.