CHENNAI: In a bid to boost internet connectivity in Chennai suburbs and villages in eight other districts, Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Limited entered into Master Service Agreement (MSA) with Polycab India Limited for implementing BharatNet Phase-II in Tamil Nadu.
A total of 3,095 gram panchayats in Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvallur, Vellore, Krishnagiri, Ranipet, Tirupathur and Chennai will benefit from the project under Package A through which rural areas can access 1 Gbps bandwidth service.
The agreement, signed in presence of Information Technology Minister T Mano Thankaraj, will make access to digital services such as e-education, telemedicine, triple play services (Telephone, Television and Internet Connection) affordable. It will allow government offices, public institutions, schools, colleges and industries to use high-speed bandwidth to deliver citizen-centric services at village level, and help create jobs.
BharatNet Phase-II Project envisages connecting 12,525 Gram Panchayats in TN with high-speed bandwidth after the Centre approved the project at an estimated cost of Rs 1,815.31 crore. Master System Agreement was executed in October 2021 with System Integrators of L&T Limited (package C), ITI Limited (Package D) and BECIL (TPA) towards the implementation of BharatNet Phase-II project in TN. The project is being implemented in Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Pudukottai, Namakkal, Karur, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Tiruchirapalli, Mayiladurai under Package C. Kanyakumari, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Theni, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi, Dindigul, and Sivagangai will be covered under Package D. Information Technology secretary Neeraj Mittal; Managing Director of Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Limited AK Kamal Kishore, Chief General Manager of BBNL G Kalaivani, principal general manager of BBNL, Chandrasekar, were present.