5G TECHNOLOGY

5G TECHNOLOGY

TOPIC: Science & Technology

Context- The auctions for the 5G spectrum and the subsequent rollout of the technology is likely to happen in the forthcoming fiscal year said Finance Minister in Budget 2022-23.

Concept-

• Of the 8 per cent adjusted gross revenue payable by private telecom service providers and other telecom licence holders, 5 per cent goes into the USOF, while the rest goes into the central exchequer.
• Further, 5 per cent of the annual collection from the universal service obligation fund (USOF) would be allocated to enable broadband and mobile service proliferation in rural areas.
• The government, however, also pushed the deadline for completion of BharatNet by close to two years to 2025.
• Optical fibres in all villages including remote areas will be awarded under the Bharat- Net Project through PPP.

BHARATNET

• The initial aim of BharatNet, which was started as NOFN, was to connect 2.5 lakh gram panchayats (GPs) with high speed broadband internet by 2014.
• BharatNet is a flagship mission implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Ltd. (BBNL). It is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up by the Government of India under the Companies Act, 1956.
• Currently, it is being implemented by the Department of Telecommunication under the Ministry of Communications.
• National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) was launched in October 2011 and was renamed as Bharat Net Project in 2015.
  • National Optical Fibre Network was envisaged as an information superhighway through the creation of a robust middle-mile infrastructure for reaching broadband connectivity to Gram Panchayats.
• The entire project is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which was set up for improving telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country.

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)

• USOF ensures that there is universal non-discriminatory access to quality ICT (Information and Communications Technology) services at economically efficient prices to people in rural and remote areas.
• It was created under the Ministry of Communications in 2002.
• It is a non-lapsable fund, i.e., the unspent amount under a targeted financial year does not lapse and is accrued for next years’ spending.
• All credits to this fund require parliamentary approval and it has statutory support under Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003.