Rural India thrives on huge internet consumption

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The internet has managed to penetrate further into India’s hinterland, boosting connectivity and communication. As per official data, internet consumption in rural India last year went up by 400%, indicating high demand and appetite for connectivity.

The government plans on providing Wi-Fi hotspots and fiber-to-home (FTH) connections in the hinterland have received an overwhelming response. Over 1.3 million users have registered for Wi-Fi so far and over two million households are expected to benefit from this scheme by the end of 2021.

BharatNet project

As per BharatNet’s data on internet usage, over 1,00,000 panchayats have consumed over 13,000 TB of data till June. In 2020, the total data consumption was 6,000 TB while in July 2019 it was a meager 300-400 TB.

Dinesh Tyagi, MD of CSC e-Governance Service, says that the figures are indicative of the fact that there is a big appetite for internet data in rural India. He added that this could possibly play an essential role in bridging the digital divide in the near future.

He also said that if this is nurtured well with informational and educational content the goal of empowering rural India digitally could be achieved.

CSC e-Governance Services operates over 4,00,000 Common Service Centres (CSC) and manages their services. BharatNet optical fiber is also operated by CSCs.

1,15,000 panchayats connected

The government under BharaNet Phase 1 was able to successfully connect 1,15,000 panchayats, Tyagi said. Of these, the CSCs succeeded in connecting 98,000 with BharatNet within a year of taking charge of its operations and maintenance.

In spite of a raging pandemic that has engulfed the world for almost a year and a half, internet users have not been deterred. Over 4,50,000 subscribers have been registered with CSC, out of which 3,25,000 include government establishments like remote police stations, gram panchayat offices, PDS shops, primary health centres, post offices, and Anganwadi centres.