Rural India doubled its internet use amid lockdown, says government's internet access facilitator

New Delhi: Data consumption in rural India jumped nearly 100 per cent within a month - especially since the lockdown began, a top official of the government-run internet access facilitator CSC SPV said on Sunday.

Common Services Centres, a Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC SPV) of the government, over the years set up access points for the delivery of various digital services, also known as e-Governance services, in rural areas.

CSC SPV recorded an increase in data consumption to 4.7 terabyte (TB) as on March 30 from 2.7 TB on March 10, a near 100 per cent increase.

“Besides the surge of data consumption in rural areas, there has been a high demand of FTTH (Fiber to Home) internet connectivity,” CSC SPV CEO Dinesh Tyagi told PTI. “Since March 20, more than 3 lakh subscribers registered for FTTH across 50,000 gram panchayats.”

CSC has also set up Wi-Fi hotspots in around 25,000 gram panchayats named CSC Wi-Fi Choupal services.

Wi-Fi Choupal has more than 12 lakh registered subscribers who use it as a supplement to their mobile internet connection, CSC data showed.

“This clearly indicates the high appetite for internet data in rural areas, which in future can be pivotal in bridging the digital divide. If nurtured with regular organic feed of educational and informational content, rural India can be digitally empowered and transformed," Tyagi said.

India has more than 60 crore internet users, 29 crore of which live in rural areas.

The government has strived to provide broadband facilities to every rural household in India through a project called BharatNet. It has roped in the CSC SPV, an organisation under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, to operate, manage and support BharatNet at the panchayat level.

Until now, more than one lakh panchayats have been enabled to provide broadband services under the BharatNet project.