25,000 km fiber network by Road Transport Ministry in three years

In order to install OFC (Optical Fiber Cable) infrastructure along 25,000 km of national highways within the next three years, the Union Ministry of Road Transport has developed a complex strategy. In this context, bids have been requested for the installation of OFC ducts around 2,000 km at a cost of INR 5 billion. There are two pilot projects in this category: the Hyderabad-Bangalore National Highway and the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, both of which are brownfield projects. Both the Hyderabad-Bangalore National Highway and the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway travel through 23 districts, affecting a combined population of almost 6.58 billion. “The Government wants to increase the leased OFC infrastructure from 2,000 km to 25,000 km in the next three years”, the Ministry stated on the financial sustainability of the OFC model through initial investment. Large parts of the nation's National Highways are completely devoid of cell network access, which is quite worrying because it makes it difficult to contact emergency services. In addition to safety, having some level of mobile connectivity when travelling is becoming increasingly crucial in the modern era as navigational services and many other forms of crucial communications rely on mobile connectivity. A parliamentary committee had advised the road ministry to take the necessary steps in collaboration with the Department of Telecommunications and other relevant entities after taking note of this information. The National Broadband Mission was a programme the government launched in 2019 to expedite the expansion of the digital communications infrastructure. One of the main focuses of this strategy, which calls for building 50 lakh kilometres of OFC infrastructure in India by 2024, is accelerating fiberisation. In order to create smart and digital highways, the Road Transport Ministry, one of the initiative's major stakeholders, is closely collaborating with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). This is done by installing dark-fibre connectivity along national highways, which enables users to connect their devices directly and immediately. With the help of this effort, the government will have the ability to connect rural portions of the nation to the internet, allowing users like private players and local panchayats to connect via the tapping point or the closest highway stretch. The OFC infrastructure has been built to handle growing data volumes through the year 2050.