In one of the biggest broadband projects in the country, the state-owned telecom behemoth Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is planning to provide broadband connections to 110,000 schools in the country. The public sector unit is also looking at roping in the Ministry of Human Research and Development for the project that is expected to give an impetus to the educational sector.
The company will be offering both wireless and wired broadband connectivity. The financial terms of the contract, which is expected to be completed by December 2008, are yet to be ascertained.
The project will be completed in phases. In the first phase to be completed by December 2007, the company will provide connectivity to 15,000 schools in 1,500 towns. Under the second phase, the company would cover 20,000 schools in rural areas. In the last phase, the remaining 65,000 schools across 5,000 blocks will be covered.
The company is believed to have sought the help of MHRD to provide the details of schools and to equip them with necessary hardware. The ministry is also entrusted with providing integrated management of hardware, content and connectivity.
Meanwhile, in another move, BSNL is planning to connect 1,000 cities in the country through WiMAX. An emerging technology, WiMAX is over 30 times faster than the 3G technology (that offers speeds of up to 380 kbps to 2 mbps), and can support data speeds of up to 70 mbps.