Mysuru: To provide a boost to internet penetration rate in rural India, the first Public Data Office (PDO)- BSNL PDO services were rolled out at Rammanahalli on the outskirts of Mysuru recently. The high-speed but cost-effective facility covers the entire village of Rammanahalli and the services are on par with any city area.

The PDO was installed to bolster seamless high-speed internet connection in rural areas, a policy of the Centre. It is also part of ‘Digital India’ programme, a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to BSNL officials, Rammanahalli is the first village in the State to have Wi-Fi coverage across the entire settlement under the PDO. They also said that the Wi-Fi and internet connectivity will be rolled out across rural Karnataka in a phased manner.

The BSNL has installed 8 PDO with 32 access point interfaces (APIs) to cover the entire village and all the PDO backhaul connectivity is connected through the Optic Fibre Network. The Wi-Fi signals will be accessible in a radius of 150 metres around each of the 32 access points. The villagers of Rammanahalli can access internet at a speed of up to 50 Mbps and is a pre-paid service.

There are various plans ranging from 1GB for Rs. 9 valid for 1 day to 30 GB plan for Rs. 69 valid for one month. Prior to the roll out and installation of access points, a survey was conducted to identify the potential black spots and bring such areas also under the network.

Officials noted that the service is feasible and available at the fingertips of anyone with a smartphone. BSNL is gearing up for more such launches in the other rural areas in accordance with the objectives of the PDO.

The Union Cabinet had officially cleared the PDO in December 2020 to the Department of Telecommunications for setting up public Wi-Fi networks by Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) to accelerate the penetration of broadband internet services in the hinterland and across India.

The rollout of PDO has been necessitated due to the proliferation of mobile phones and the accelerated usage of internet and broadband services. Due to the pandemic, apart from business, it will be useful to students for their academics being shifted to online mode.

Senior officials from BSNL including Vivek Banzal, Director of Consumer Fixed Access (CFA), BSNL Board, New Delhi and Devesh Kumar, Chief General Manager, BSNL Karnataka Telecom Circle were present on the occasion.