Siddharth Darnal at 20:29, 7 February 2026

2026-02-07T20:29:08Z

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{{Distinguish|Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited}}
{{short description|Indian central public sector undertaking}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Bharat Broadband Network Limited<br>(India Broadband Network Limited)
| logo = Bharat Broadband Network.svg
| logo_size = 250px
| type = [[Public sector undertakings in India|Central Public Sector Undertaking]]
| location = [[New Delhi]]
| location_country = [[India]]
| industry = [[Broadband]]
| key_people = *[[Jyotiraditya Scindia]] ([[Ministry of Communications (India)|Cabinet Minister for Communications]])
*Sarvesh Singh, [[Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers|IRSSE]] (Chairman & MD)
| services = [[Internet]]
| area_served = [[India]]
| owner = [[Department of Telecommunications]], [[Ministry of Communications (India)|Ministry of Communications]], [[Government of India]]
| parent =
| founded = {{Start date and age|df=yes|2012|02|25}}
| defunct = {{Start date and age|df=yes|2022|09|26}}
| founder = 
| homepage = {{URL|https://bbnl.nic.in}}
}}

'''BharatNet''', also known as '''Bharat Broadband Network Limited''' ('''BBNL'''), ({{Translation|'''India Broadband Network Limited'''}}) was an Indian [[Public sector undertakings in India|central public sector undertaking]], set up by the [[Department of Telecommunications]], a department under the [[Ministry of Communications (India)|Ministry of Communications]] of the [[Government of India]] for the establishment, management, and operation of the National Optical Fibre Network to provide a minimum of 100 [[Mbit/s]] [[broadband]] connectivity to all 250,000-[[gram panchayat]]s in the country, covering nearly 625,000 villages, by improving the middle layer of [[telecommunications in India|nation-wide broadband internet in India]] to achieve the goal of [[Digital India]].<ref name=bbnl1>[http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/only-made-in-india-equipment-for-bharatnet-govt/article9954895.ece "Only 'Made in India' equipment for BharatNet: Govt."], [[The Hindu]], 12 November 2017.</ref><ref name=bbnl2>[http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/govt-launch-second-phase-bharatnet-connect-15-lakh-panchayats-internet-71530 "Govt to launch second phase of BharatNet, to connect 1.5 lakh panchayats with internet."], [[The News Minute]], 13 November 2017.</ref><ref name="BBNL">{{cite news|title=BBNL may become full-blown telecom services company|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-10-29/news/43496038_1_universal-services-obligation-fund-bbnl-telecom-commission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031215449/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-10-29/news/43496038_1_universal-services-obligation-fund-bbnl-telecom-commission|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 October 2013|newspaper=Economic times|date=29 October 2013|location=Kolkata, India}}</ref><ref name=bbnl6/>

BharatNet Phase-I, connecting 100,000 village councils covering 300,000 villages, was completed by December 2017.<ref name=bbnl1/> BharatNet Phase-II will be completed by 31-March-2023 to connect the remaining 150,000 village councils covering 325,000 villages in 16 states (July 2021 update).<ref name=cc1/> The [[Last mile (telecommunications)|last mile]] connectivity, with a total of 700,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to cover all 625,000 villages of India by adding 2 to 5 [[Hotspot (Wi-Fi)|Wi-Fi hotspots]] per gram panchayat and a minimum of one Wi-Fi hotspot per village, have been created by connecting high-speed [[4G]] [[Cell site|base tower station]]s of commercial telecom operators to BharatNet, whereby commercially non-viable Wi-Fi hotspots will be subsidized by the union government grant of {{INRConvert|36|b|year=2017|to=USD EUR}} to sustain the operation.<ref name=bbnl2/><ref name=bbnl9/><ref name=bbnl10/>

BharatNet is the world's largest rural broadband connectivity program,<ref name=bbnl6>[http://www.bbnl.nic.in/FAQ.aspx?pid=52#68 BharatNet FAQ]</ref> which is built under the [[Make in India]] initiative with no involvement of foreign companies.<ref name=bbnl1/><ref name=bbnl8/><ref name=bbnl10/> It is both an enabler and a beneficiary of other key government schemes, such as Digital India,<ref name=bbnl6/> Make in India,<ref name=bbnl1/> the [[National e-Governance Plan]], [[UMANG]], [[Bharatmala]], [[Sagar Mala project|Sagarmala]], Parvatmala, the [[Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India|dedicated freight corridors]], [[industrial corridor]]s, [[UDAN|UDAN-RCS]] and [[Amrit Bharat Station Scheme]].

==History==

===Origin and slow pace of implementation (2011)===

On 25 October 2011, the Government of India approved the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) initiative, later renamed as BharatNet,<ref name=bbnl5/> to connect all 250,000 gram panchayats in the country, covering nearly 625,000 villages, by utilizing the existing optical fibre network and extending it to the gram panchayats.<ref name=netfound1>{{cite news|title=Bharat Broadband plans to hook up all 2.5 lakh panchayats by Dec-end|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/bharat-broadband-plans-to-hook-up-all-25-lakh-panchayats-by-decend/article4924641.ece|newspaper=The Hindu – Business Line|date=17 July 2013|location=India}}</ref> To achieve this, Bharat Broadband Network was incorporated as a [[Special purpose entity|Special Purpose Vehicle(SPV)]] on 25 February 2012 under [[The Companies Act, 1956|Companies Act of 1956]].<ref name=netfound2>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbnl.nic.in/content/page/company-profile.php |title=Company Profile|publisher=Bharat Broadband Network Limited |access-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> Between 2011 and 2014, project did not take off as planned,<ref name=bbnl9/> and only 350 km of optical fibre, out of 300,000 km optical fibre network needed for the Phase-I, was laid.<ref name=bbnl9/><ref name=bbnl10/> Between 2014 and 2017, the original Phase-I target of laying 300,000 km of optical fibre was completed under the new BJP government.<ref name=bbnl9/>

=== Implementation boost in 2014 ===

The BharatNet project picked up pace under the Digital India initiative after Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]] came to power, he renamed the project as the "BharatNet", made several changes to expedite the project, significantly enhanced the BharatNet funding to several billion dollars under the [[Digital India]], set ambitious time-bound implementations deadlines, appointed government public sector units (BSNL, [[RailTel]], and [[Power Grid Corporation of India|PowerGrid Corp]]) for the swift implementation and monitoring, and to bypass the [[Right-of-way (property access)|right of way]] issues for laying the optical fiber cable network the existing government-owned roads, rail lines, and power lines were used.<ref name=bbnl10/> Bangalore-based [[United Telecoms Limited]] won the bid, being almost 80% lower than the second-lowest bidder ITI Limited, followed by Tejas, [https://www.stl.tech/ STL], etc. BharatNet collaborated with other government entities such as [[C-DOT]], [[Telecommunications Consultants India Limited]], and [[National Informatics Centre]] for the design and rollout plan of BharatNet NOFN Project.<ref name=netfound1/> BharatNet assigned the execution work of network rollout to several other Government of India Public Sector Units, namely [[Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited|BSNL]], [[RailTel Corporation of India|RailTel]], and [[Power Grid Corporation of India]].<ref name=netfound1/> Project was rolled out as a collaboration between the Union Government (to provide broadband connectivity at sub-district Block-level), state governments (optical fibre to gram panchayat level,) and private sector companies (Wi-Fi hotspots in each village and connections to the individual homes).<ref name=bbnl2/><ref name=bbnl3>{{cite news|title=Gujarat inks pact with GOI, BBNL for optical fiber network|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/gujarat-inks-pact-with-goi-bbnl-for-optical-fiber-network-113041400363_1.html|newspaper=Business Standard|date=14 April 2013|location=Vadodara, India}}</ref> Union government total share is {{INRConvert|450|b|year=2017|to=USD EUR}}, the rest will be funded by the respective state governments.<ref name=bbnl2/>

===Implementation partners===

There are 36 [[states and union territories of India]], including 28 states and 9 UTs. BSNL was awarded work for 18 of these, RailTel received work in 8 and Power Grid Corporation of India in 5.<ref name=bbnl5/> BSNL was awarded work for 18+ states and UTs, namely [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], [[Assam]], [[Bihar]], [[Chandigarh]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Haryana]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Karnataka]], [[Kerala]], [[Lakshadweep]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Sikkim]], [[Uttar Pradesh]] (divided into two projects, UP East and UP West), [[Uttarakhand]] and [[West Bengal]].<ref name=bbnl5/> RailTel was awarded work for 8+ states and UTs, namely [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Nagaland]], [[Manipur]], [[Mizoram]], [[Meghalaya]], [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] and [[Tripura]].<ref name=bbnl5/> Power Grid Corporation of India was awarded work for 5 states, namely [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Odisha]] and [[Telangana]].<ref name=bbnl5/> [[Delhi]] is included with Phase-I BSNL work for Haryana. [[Goa]] is also included with Phase-I BSNL work for Maharashtra. [[Dadra and Nagar Haveli]] and [[Daman and Diu]] are included with Phase-II work for RailTel. [[Tripura]] is likely included with Phase-II RailTel work for the [[Northeast India]].

== Project features ==

===Benefits ===

BharatNet will provide more employment opportunities, improved service delivery (online e-gram panchayat services, e-governance, e-education, e-health, e-medicine, e-grievances, e-agriculture, e-citizen, etc.), and an impetus to the [[Make in India]], [[Digital India]] and [[Startup India]] initiatives.<ref name=bbnl1/><ref name=bbnl9/><ref name=bbnl10/> According to [[Morgan Stanley]]'s research, of India's 33% internet penetration in November 2017{{Update inline|date=April 2021}} only 15% and 2% of total internet users use online shopping and retail shopping respectively, estimated to go up to 78% penetration, 62% online shoppers and 15% online retail shopper respectively by 2027.<ref name=bbnl12>[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/mukesh-ambanis-soft-online-approach-may-outsmart-amazon-and-flipkart/articleshow/61680778.cms "."], [[The Economic Times|Economic Times]], 17 November 2017.</ref>

As per study by the [http://icrier.org ICRIER], every 10% increase in the usage of [[internet in India]] will add {{INRConvert|4.5|t|year=2017|to=USD EUR}} leading to a 3.3% increase in [[Economy of India|GDP of India]], a number that will go up after the completion of Phase-II in March 2019.<ref name=bbnl1/><ref name=bbnl9/> By the end of BharatNet Phase-II in March 2019, the total current fibre optical network will grow by 100% to 10 million kilometers.<ref name=bbnl9/><ref name=bbnl10/> This 100% increment in the fibre optic network would result in several hundred percent increment in the internet usage when in addition to 625,000 villages (each with minimum 100 Mbit/s), 2,500,000 government institutions and 5,000,000 households will also be connected to the BharatNet broadband by the time it is completed.<ref name=bbnl9/><ref name=bbnl11>[https://www.medianama.com/2017/07/223-422-million-internet-connections-india-march-2017/ "422.2M Internet connections in India; Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) had highest broadband connections."], [https://www.medianama.com MediaNama.Com], July 2017.</ref>

To put the potential gains things in perspective, during the early phase of the project in 2018, India had a population of 1.3 billion people (1.36 billion in 2021), 1.23 billion [[Aadhaar]] digital biometric identities, 1.21 billion mobile phones, 446 million smartphones, 560 million internet users (800 million in 2021), 35% internet penetration (57% in 2021), and 51% growth in e-commerce.<ref name="indint1">[https://indianexpress.com/article/india/aadhaar-driving-licence-linking-ravi-shankar-prasad-5525713/ Govt will soon make Aadhaar-driving licence linking mandatory: Ravi Shankar Prasad], Indian Express, 7 Jan 2019.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iamai.in/node/4990#in|title=The Internet and Mobile Association of India|website=iamai.in|language=en|access-date=2018-05-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627010316/http://www.iamai.in/node/4990#in|archive-date=27 June 2018}}</ref> BharatNet has stated goal of 100 Mbit/s internet speed, and in Q1 2020 India ranked 3rd with 15.34 Mbit/s wireless/mobile internet speed and 70th with 55.76 Mbit/s fixed broadband speed (also see [[List of countries by Internet connection speeds|countries by Internet connection speed]]). BharatNet will expedite broadband and smartphone penetration and speed, and its multiplier impact on the economy.

===Funding ===

The government has discounted the bulk BharatNet bandwidth rates to the commercial telecom operators by 76% to enable them to offer the highly discounted, affordable, competitive, and commercially viable BharatNet-enabled wireless cellular 4G broadband deals to the rural customers.<ref name=bbnl9/><ref name=bbnl10/> The {{INRConvert|450|b|year=2017|to=USD EUR}} union government share of funding will come from the Universal Services Obligation Fund of the Department of Telecommunications.<ref name="BBNL"/> It will be rolled out with the additional funding by state governments to connect all gram panchayats in India.<ref name=bbnl3/>

===Make in India===

Both the [[optical fibre]] and the [[G.984|Gigabit-capable]] [[passive optical network]] [[broadband]] equipment, made to account for the dust and power outage issues in the rural areas, are made in India by [[C-DOT]] with no involvement of foreign companies.<ref name=bbnl1/> GPON products (see below) supplied by [[United Telecoms Limited]] (UTL) which are manufactured in India and the technology is indigenously developed by [[C-DOT|Centre for Development of Telematics]] (C-DOT).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/?mode=details&id=29327 |title=Press Releases |publisher=Telegraphindia.com |date=1999-03-01 |access-date=2016-12-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220163013/http://www.telegraphindia.com/external/display.jsp?mode=details&id=29327 |archive-date=20 December 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Abhimanyu Rathore |url=http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=100680 |title=Although Most Of The Wearable Technology Still Lie A Bit On The Expensive Side, Expectations Are Of A Large Increase In Number Of People Using Wearable Technology In India In The Coming Years – Electronics For You |publisher=Efytimes.com |access-date=2016-12-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821232651/http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=100680 |archive-date=21 August 2014 }}</ref>

==Bharat Net as middle layer ==
===GPON fiber deployment ===
{{Update|date=February 2024}}
C-DOT had also inked technology transfer pacts with six Indian vendors, which include [[ITI Limited]], [[Tejas Networks]], VMC, Sai Systems, [[United Telecoms Limited|UTL]], and SM Creative to manufacture the gear on winning the contracts{{Citation needed|date=January 2015}}.

[[United Telecoms Limited|UTL]] emerged as the competitive bid winner and obtained the GPON supply contract for a value of approximately Rs 1000 Cr. The companies like [[Indian Telephone Industries Limited|ITI Ltd]], [[Tejas Networks]], Sterlite, [[ZTE]] and [[Larsen & Toubro]] lost this deal to [[United Telecoms Limited|UTL]]. The rollout of GPON is being carried out, and it is expected that by March 2015, around 60000 villages will be connected.<ref>{{cite news |author=Kalyan Parbat |date=February 20, 2014 |title=United Telecom pips rivals ITI, Tejas, Sterlite, L&T; with Rs 998 crore bid for BBNL contract |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-02-20/news/47527565_1_bbnl-gpon-bharat-broadband-network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301122540/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-02-20/news/47527565_1_bbnl-gpon-bharat-broadband-network |archive-date=2014-03-01 |newspaper=The Economic Times}}</ref>

Once all the gram panchayats have been connected by the dedicated fibre optical network, the last mile connectivity to all villages will be provided by the commercial telecom operators by expanding the current national network of 38,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to 700,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to cover all 625,000 villages in India.<ref name=bbnl1/><ref name=bbnl2/> {{INRConvert|36|b|year=2017|to=USD EUR}}, union government subsidy support will be given to the telecom service operators for rolling out Wi-Fi hotspots in commercially non-viable villages.<ref name=bbnl2/> BharatNet has offered bulk broadband bandwidth at 75% discounted rates to the commercial telecom operators so that they can offer deeply discounted monetised competitive deals to the rural wireless broadband customers.<ref name=bbnl9/><ref name=bbnl10/> Commercial operators [[Reliance Jio]], [[Bharti Airtel]], [[Idea Cellular]] and [[Vodafone]] have already connected their [[4G]]-based-broadband [[Cell site|base towers]] to BharatNet at various locations to provide the high speed last mile wireless broadband connectivity.<ref name=bbnl8>[http://www.dnaindia.com/business/report-bharat-turns-new-telco-battleground-2559788 "Bharat turns new telco battleground."], [[Daily News and Analysis]], 14 November 2017.</ref><ref name=bbnl9>[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/reliance-jio-airtel-vodafone-idea-take-first-dive-into-bharatnet/articleshow/61626019.cms "Jio, Airtel take lead in signing up for BharatNet connectivity."], [[The Economic Times|Economic Times]], 14 November 2017.</ref><ref name=bbnl10>[http://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/what-is-bharatnet-project-and-how-it-could-add-whopping-amount-of-rs-4-5-lakh-crore-to-indias-gdp/931358/ "What is BharatNet project and why it's a big boost for PM Narendra Modi's Digital India dream?."], [[The Financial Express (India)]], 14 November 2017.</ref>

The central government will set up sufficient Wi-Fi hotspots to cover 100 million citizens by 2020, and a tender will be floated for this soon (as of November 2017).<ref name=bbnl2/> Additionally, [[Indian Railways]] will provide Wi-Fi hotspots, limited free access, and unlimited paid access, at 600 major stations by March 2018 and all of its 8,500 stations by March 2019 with an outlay of {{INRConvert|7|b}}, with 1,200 large stations catering to the rail passengers and the remaining 7,300 stations catering to both rail passengers and local population in remote and rural areas, including facilities to access government services or e-purchase of commercial products (c. 7 Jan 2018).<ref name=lastmile1>[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/indian-railways-to-equip-all-8500-stations-with-wi-fi/articleshow/62402303.cms Indian Railways to equip all 8,500 stations with Wi-Fi], [[The Economic Times|Economic Times]], 7 Jan 2018.</ref>

HRD ministry has instructed 50,000 colleges and technical institutions in India to offer free Wi-Fi to students and staff with a capped free data quota, after which data will have to be purchased. Out of these [[Reliance Jio]] has offered to deploy free Wi-Fi connectivity to 38,000 colleges, which has been supported by [[Telecom Regulatory Authority of India]] (TRAI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).<ref name=hrd1>[http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/hrd-ministry-asks-colleges-to-provide-free-wi-fi-on-campus/story-gjQQ6IUiKNIny85PtpR57I.html HRD ministry asks colleges to provide free Wi-Fi on campus ], [[Hindustan Times]], 18 Jan 2018.</ref>

Some Startups, such as Velmenni Research, under the [[Startup India]], are working on solutions to offer [[Li-Fi]] access via LED lights at homes at a speed 100 faster than ordinary WI-FI bandwidth.<ref name=start1>[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/features/forget-wi-fi-this-startup-tech-can-power-the-internet-using-light-bulbs-and-is-100-times-faster-velmenni-deepak-solanki/articleshow/62468741.cms Forget Wi-Fi: This startup tech can power the Internet using light bulbs and is 100 times faster], [[The Economic Times|Economic Times]], 16 Jan 2018.</ref>

== Implementation ==

BharatNet was a middle layer for providing broadband connectivity across all [[Community Development Block]]s (CDB), 250,000 village [[gram panchayat]]s covering 630,000 inhabited villages of [[states and union territories of India]]. As of July 2021, Phase-I was complete and 150,000 Gram Panchayats and associated villages had been service ready with 5.09 lakh km of Optical Fibre Cable already laid, the 29,500 crore (US$4 billion) PPP tender for remaining nearly 100,000 gram panchayats and all the individual inhabited villages under hose panchayats spread across 16 states was floated in 2021 with target date for broadband connectivity of 2023.<ref name=cc1>[https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/global-tenders-worth-rs-29500-crore-invited-for-bharatnet-7198471.html Global tenders worth rs 29500 crore invited for bharatnet], Money Control, 20 July 2021.</ref>

===BharatNet Phase-I (Completed: Dec 2017)===

BharatNet Phase-I, across 13 states and UTs, was completed in December 2017 with the Phase-I union government funding share of {{INRConvert|110|b|year=2017|to=USD EUR}}.<ref name=bbnl2/><ref name=bbnl4/><ref name=bbnl5/> It connected 100,000 gram panchayat, covering 300,000 villages by laying 300,000 km of optical fibre network.<ref name=bbnl1/><ref name=bbnl2/><ref name=bbnl4>[http://www.bbnl.nic.in/WriteReadData/LINKS/Rpt_Nw_Plg_tool6cad24a7-eea8-4adc-91ff-468d7119eeb0.pdf BharatNet Phase-II plan], [[IIT Bombay]].</ref><ref name=bbnl5>[http://www.bbnl.nic.in/index1.aspx?lsid=576&lev=2&lid=470&langid=1 BharatNet Phase-I status by states and UT.]</ref> 13 states and UTs in this phase were: [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], [[Chandigarh]], [[Delhi]], [[Goa]], [[Haryana]], [[Karnataka]], [[Kerala]], [[Lakshadweep]], [[Manipur]], [[Meghalaya]], [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]], [[Sikkim]] and [[West Bengal]].<ref name=bbnl4/><ref name=bbnl5/><ref name=tribhar1>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/bsnl-lays-11-005-km-optical-fibre-cable-in-state/527661.html BSNL lays 11,005-km optical fibre cable in state], The Tribune, 13 Jan 2018.</ref>

To provide the last mile connectivity for the 100,000-gram panchayats in Phase I, contracts were signed to connect 30,500 village panchayats by Vodafone, 30,000 village panchayats by Reliance Jio. 2,000 by Vodafone and 1,000 by Idea Cellular, these Wi-Fi hotspots were activated after connecting BharatNet fibre optics OLT to commercial operators' cell phone base stations.<ref name=bbnl10/> ([http://www.bbnl.nic.in/index1.aspx?lid=467&lsid=570&pid=13&lev=2&langid=1 Latest weekly update])

===BharatNet Phase-II (Target: March 2023)===

BharatNet Phase-II will connect the remaining nearly 145,000 gram panchayats covering 325,000 villages through an additional 1 million km of optical fibre.<ref name=bbnl1/><ref name=bbnl2/> Phase-II commenced with the union government funding share of {{INRConvert|340|b|year=2017|to=USD EUR}}, with the current 250 km per day pace of optical fibre network roll out, which needs to be raised to 500 km per day to achieve the completion target of March 2019.<ref name=bbnl1/>

DoT will invest {{INRConvert|107.43|b}} on BharatNet in [[Northeast India]], including erecting 6,673 towers to connect 8,621 villages at the cost of {{INRConvert|53.36|b}} and additional 4,240 gram panchayats by satellite broadband connectivity.<ref name=NE1>[http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/dot-to-spend-rs-10-743-cr-to-improve-connectivity-in-ne-lead-correcting-second-para-118011601471_1.html DoT to spend Rs 10,743 cr to improve connectivity in NE], Business Standard, 16 Jan 2018.</ref>

== Merger of BSNL and BBNL ==
On 27 July 2022, the cabinet approved the merger of BBNL with [[BSNL|Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Cabinet clears BSNL-BBNL merger, approves revival package worth Rs 1.64 lakh cr |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/cabinet-clears-bsnl-bbnl-merger-approves-revival-package-worth-rs-164156-cr/articleshow/93162008.cms |access-date=2022-07-28}}</ref> The merger was complete by late 2022.

==See also ==
{{portal|India}}
* [[Common Service Centres]]
* [[Digital India]]
* [[Electronics and semiconductor manufacturing industry in India]]
* [[Internet in India]]
* [[Telecommunications in India]]
* [[List of countries by number of broadband Internet subscriptions]]
* [[List of countries by number of Internet users]]
* [[List of countries by Internet connection speeds]]
* [[List of countries by smartphone penetration]]

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

==External links==
*{{URL|www.bbnl.nic.in|Official site}}
*[http://www.bbnl.nic.in/index1.aspx?lsid=570&lev=2&lid=467&langid=1 Official live current overall summary status report]
*[http://www.bbnl.nic.in/index1.aspx?lsid=576&lev=2&lid=470&langid=1 Official Phase-I status breakdown by state]
*[http://www.bbnl.nic.in/WriteReadData/LINKS/Rpt_Nw_Plg_tool6cad24a7-eea8-4adc-91ff-468d7119eeb0.pdf Phase-II Planning], [[IIT Bombay]]

{{Telecommunication companies of India}}

[[Category:Telecommunications companies of India]]
[[Category:Government-owned companies of India]]
[[Category:Proposed infrastructure in India]]
[[Category:BSNL]]

Bharat Broadband Network - Revision history

Siddharth Darnal at 20:29, 7 February 2026