Boradband connection for Rs.99/-

The Department of Telecom has finalized a scheme whereby telecom operators across the country will be given subsidy to roll out wireless broadband network in villages, thereby enabling the people of six lakh remote villages in the country to get high speed broadband services for just Rs 99 a month.

Rural folks will not have to pay any upfront cost for taking a connection. They will also get the consumer premise equipment free of cost.

In return for the subsidy, operators will have to offer the tariffs fixed by the DoT and minimum speeds of 512 kbps.

The DoT has decided on four tariff plans, the cheapest one being Rs 99 a month with 500 Mb free download. For higher data usage, consumers can opt for Rs 400 a month bundled with 10 GB free download. For Government institutions, there is an unlimited download plan for Rs 800 a month. The project will be funded by the Universal Services Obligation (USO) which a corpus of nearly Rs 20,000 crore.

For providing the subsidy, DoT will select one private operator in each circle through a bidding process.

Telecom companies with unified access license or Internet service license will be allowed to bid. Once the operator is selected, it will be responsible for installing the required network and providing modems, dongles and devices to consumers.

Operators are free to choose the technology but will have to roll out services in 10 per cent the targeted districts within 12 months and complete coverage within 24 months.

Operators will get subsidy in a phased manner over 8 years in addition to Rs 2,000 for each consumer premise equipment.