Bharat Broadband Network Ltd , a special purpose vehicle set up by the Union Government, will soon begin work in Andhra Pradesh to lay optical fibre network. The Rs 20,000-crore national initiative, which is aimed at providing broadband connectivity to 2.5 lakh villages, will cover 25,000 gram panchayats in Andhra Pradesh.

“We are expecting this to be completed by the end of 2013. BBNL will soon sign a tripartite agreement with the State and Central Governments to begin work,” Mr Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Andhra Pradesh Minister for Information Technology, said.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, he said the State already connected the district headquarters and mandals with optical fibre network, allowing the Government to offer citizen services over the Internet. “It will be used to enrol and register during enumeration for BPL and job guarantee scheme,” the Minister said.

“When completed, the village level network would help the administration to offer more citizen services using the Mee Seva platform,” he said.

Using robust Internet connectivity, these panchayats would be able to access healthcare, education and governance services much faster. “All the Government departments have given the right of way to facilitate the faster implementation of the project,” the Minister said.

BPOs

Mr Sanjay Jaju, Principal Secretary (Govt of AP, Information Technology), said the OFC network would allow the IT-enabled services to set up BPO centres in rural areas. “It will make a good business proposition for them,” he said.

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