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National Broadband Mission (NBM) 2.0
Context:
Union Minister of Communications, Jyotiraditya Scindia, has announced the launch of the National Broadband Mission (NBM) 2.0, aimed at significantly enhancing broadband connectivity in rural India.
More on News:
- The primary goal is to provide broadband connectivity to 170,000 villages across India.
- Ensure 60 out of every 100 rural households have broadband access.
- The Mission encourages using Power Sector Assets, such as electricity transmission lines and ground cabling, to transport fibre optic cables.
Key Objectives of NBM 2.0
- Expanding Connectivity: The government plans to extend optical fibre cable (OFC) connectivity from the current 50,000 villages to 270,000 villages by 2030, ensuring 95% uptime.
- Enhanced Broadband Speeds: The initiative aims to increase fixed broadband download speeds from the national average of 63.55 Mbps to at least 100 Mbps by 2030.
- Broadband for Anchor Institutions: The mission targets providing broadband services to at least 90% of anchor institutions such as schools, primary health care centres, Anganwadi centres, and panchayat offices.
- Sustainable Energy for Mobile Towers: The government also aims to make at least 30% of all mobile towers in the country run on sustainable energy by 2030.
- Reducing Right of Way Application Time: The disposal time for Right of Way applications will be reduced from the current 60 days to 30 days by 2030.
Right of Way and Wireless Connectivity
- Right-of-way permissions for fibre cables and telecom towers should be streamlined through coordination between Union and State governments.
- The Mission aims to expand wireless connectivity and improve 5G services by enhancing street furniture infrastructure across the country.
- The definition of broadband in India includes mobile internet with speeds greater than 2Mbps.
Additional Initiatives
- Launched the Sanchar Saathi mobile app, which allows users to report suspicious calls and messages directly from their mobile phone logs.
- The portal includes features like Chakshu, to report fraud communications and tools to disable handsets in case of theft or misuse of multiple SIMs under an individual’s name.
- Intra Circle Roaming (ICR) at 4G mobile sites: This initiative, funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (now called Digital Bharat Nidhi), will allow telecom towers to provide 4G services from multiple telecom operators at 27,836 sites in rural and remote areas.
Vision for Rural Digital Empowerment
- The mission aims to create a robust digital infrastructure for rural India, enhancing connectivity and empowering communities with faster internet access.
- Focus on sustainable and inclusive digital growth to bridge the rural-urban digital divide.
