Govt open to using satellites, drones for broadband project

Ravi Shankar pd.The government is open to the use of satellite technology, drones or special balloons for providing broadband connectivity to the entire gram panchayats under the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at the Digital India summit in New Delhi.

The ambitious NOFN project aims to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats by December 2016 with the estimated cost of around Rs. 30,000 crore.

“We have to reach every gram panchayat. Hence, where it is possible to use satellite or balloon or drones, we can consider that,” the minister said.