Bharat Net allocation moves up to Rs 10,000 crore for 2017-18

NEW DELHI: Finance MinisterArun Jaitley said that the government will allocate Rs 10,000 crore for expand the Bharat Net project in FY18.

Arun Jaitley, while presenting the budget said that by 2017-18-end high speed broadband will be more 150,000 gram panchayats via Wifi hotspots.

Bharat Net was rebranded from its name National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) project in April 2015. It aims to cover a total of 2.5 lakh gram panchayats.

The Bharat Net project is funded under the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) set up in 2012 for providing teleco services in rural areas at subsided rates.

He noted that the last year's spectrum auctions have now removed spectrum scarcity in the country.

The Minster also announced that a computer emergency response team will be established for cybersecurity.