Cable Operators Keen on Providing Broadband: Telecom Minister Prasad

Cable operators have shown interest in providing broadband connectivity to consumers by tweaking technology - a move that will increase Internet penetration in the country, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said.

"I am very excited to note that lot of cable operators have come forward to deliver broadband in urban areas by tweaking of technology," Prasad said at an event in New Delhi.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) is exploring the idea of using the services of cable operators and multiple system operators to provide broadband connectivity.

The idea is that cable TV provides last mile connectivity and this can be used to provide broadband connectivity by tweaking technology.

The minister had earlier stated that the government is open to the use of satellite technology, drones or special balloons for providing broadband connectivity to all the gram panchayats under the NOFN project.

The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project aims at providing the basic infrastructure for the Digital India programme.

It aims to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to 2,50,000 gram panchayats by December 2016 and the estimated cost of the project is around Rs. 30,000 crores.

Prasad said the aim of Digital India programme is to bridge the digital divide between people.

"We want to bridge divide between digital haves and have nots. Digital India is more for the poor," he added.

The government has set a target of rolling out optical fibre network across 50,000 village panchayats by the end of this financial year, one lakh by March 2016 and another one lakh by end of 2016.