For providing broadband connectivity to rural & remote areas, USOF has signed an Agreement with BSNL on January 20, 2009 with validity period of NINE years. The Rural Wireline Broadband Scheme envisages to provide wire-line broadband connectivity to rural & remote areas by leveraging the existing rural exchanges infrastructure and copper wire-line network. This scheme is being implemented at pan- India level. The objective is to make the rural and remote areas broadband enabled by facilitating the service providers in creating Broadband
The speed of each of the broadband connections shall be at least 512 kbps always on, with the capability to deliver data, voice and video services in the fixed mode. The rural broadband connectivity will cover Institutional Users, such as Gram Panchayats, Higher Secondary Schools and Public Health Centres, as well as Individual Users, located in the villages.
Under this scheme, BSNL will provide 8, 88,832 wire-line Broadband connections to individual users and Government Institutions and will set up 28,672 Kiosks over a period of 6-years, i.e., by 2015 (extended by one year from the original target of January, 2014). The subsidy disbursement is for (i) broadband connections, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), Computer/Computing devices (ii) setting up of Kiosks for public access to broadband services. The estimated subsidy outflow is Rs. 1500 crore.
Under this scheme, as of 31st January 2015, a total of 6,56,345 broadband connections have been provided and 15,671 kiosks have been set up in rural and remote areas.