A.P. govt. urges Centre to provide 35 lakh CPE boxes for implementing BharatNet project
The State appeals to the Centre to reimburse ₹635 crore spent on the IP-Multi Protocol Label Switching technology for BharatNet Phase-II in the State, and to clear pending payment towards the capital expenditure
The Andhra Pradesh government has requested the Central government to facilitate the supply of 35 lakh Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) boxes for optimum utilisation of BharatNet infrastructure in the State.
In this regard, A.P. government Secretary (Infrastructure & Investments) S. Suresh Kumar and Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited (APSFL) Managing Director K. Dinesh Kumar made a detailed presentation to Union Minister of State for Panchayat Raj, and Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, and Union Telecommunications Department Secretary Neeraj Mittal at a high-level meeting in New Delhi on the progress of BharatNet project on August 23 (Saturday).
According to an official release, Mr. Suresh Kumar requested the Centre to reimburse ₹635 crore spent on the IP-Multi Protocol Label Switching technology for BharatNet Phase-II in the State, and to clear the pending payment towards the capital expenditure.
It was stated that the APSFL had been dedicated to providing affordable, high-speed broadband connectivity, with a focus on the rural and underserved regions. Since inception, it provided connections to over 9.70 lakh households, of which about 5 lakh connections were active. Besides, 6,200 schools, 1,978 health centres, 11,254 panchayats, 5,800 farmers’ support centres, 193 telecom towers, and 9,104 government institutions were connected by the APSFL.
Though the subscriber base peaked at 9.70 lakh connections in 2020, the APSFL could not sustain or expand it due to supply constraints. Thirty-five lakh CPE boxes were required now to fully utilise both the APSFL Phase-I network and BharatNet Phase-II infrastructure.
Bharat Broadband Network Limited implemented BharatNet Phase-I in 57 mandals and 1,692 panchayats in the undivided Visakhapatnam and Chittoor districts.
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