Bharti to partner Gujarat for e-governance

Bharti Airtel, the country's largest private telecom company, is entering into a partnership with the Gujarat government to set up telecom infrastructure for connecting 13,716 village panchayats and common service centres in the state.

The project will be called the eGram Connectivity Infrastructure Project.

Once connected, the panchayat offices/eGrams are expected to form a powerful socio-economic network supporting information dissemination and faciltating e-governance initiatives. The company has signed an MoU with the Gujarat government's panchayat, rural housing and rural development department.

The company has designed a comprehensive V-SAT based solution to provide last mile connectivity to these villages. The project roll-out is expected to take place in a fast-track mode with completion slated for March 2008.

Commenting on the partnership, Manoj Kohli, president & CEO, Bharti Airtel, said: "We are delighted to partner with the Gujarat government in this innovative and novel project of empowering its citizens. This partnership reiterates Airtel's endeavour to collaborate with the government's e-governance plans and efforts to bridge the "digital divide" by providing connectivity to the rural masses. The e-enabling of the state is an important step as the country moves into the net phase of economic growth."

The project will ensure high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data services in the areas of agriculture, e-governance, health, education, etc. at the panchayat level. The connectivity will also facilitate point to point and point to multi-point video conference services, voice over internet protocol (VOIP) services as well as intra and internet services from these village panchayats and common service centres.