Bharti Airtel has today announced that it is partnering with Department of Telecom (DoT) to boost Broadband penetration in rural India. The company is all set to set up broadband experience centres riding on BharatNet infrastructure starting with three villages.
The company has set up three experience centres in three villages pertaining to Ghazipur, Gorakhpur and Varanasi districts of Uttar Pradesh. The company says that the centre will enable people in villages to experience high-speed broadband and will provide access to different services like e-governance, e-health, e-banking and e-commerce among others.
Airtel confirmed that it has already partnered with BharatNet to provide broadband services to 30,500 Gram Panchayats. Airtel is providing 100 Mbps connectivity to these centres through infrastructure provided under DoT’s BharatNet programme. For providing other digital and web-based services, Airtel has joined hands with Jiva Ayurveda (Online Health consultations), Takshilla E-Learning Services (Educational Content Services), and Amazon (for Amazon Echo smart speakers).
Commenting on the launch, Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel said, “Access to broadband is a key enabler of inclusive economic growth and social well-being of rural inhabitants. We are pleased to support the commendable initiatives by the DoT to ensure broadband access for every Indian and in particular building the infrastructure backbone under BharatNet. The Broadband Experience Centers established by Airtel in partnership with DoT riding on BharatNet infrastructure will open the doors to the digital world for millions of Indians and unlock several exciting opportunities for them.”