India's Optical Fibre Cable Network Expands To Over 35 Lakh Route Kilometre

The government has informed the Parliament that 35.5 lakh kilometers of optical fiber cable (OFC) have been laid across the country as of 30 September 2022.

The OFC network will help to meet the growing demand for improved bandwidth and high-volume connectivity, and has the capacity to support the roll-out of 5G technology in India.

"As on 30.09.2022, a total of 35.5 Lakh Route Kms Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has already been laid in the country, which will facilitate the increasing demand for better bandwidth, resilient and high volume connectivity," Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

"Optical Fibre Cable has the enormous capacity to handle the 5G connectivity," he added.

"Further, to facilitate faster and easier deployment of telecom infrastructure, Government has amended the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 on 17 August 2022. These amendments pave the way for deployment of 5G small cells and optical fibre cable on existing street infrastructure," the minister said.

The government and telecom companies have laid OFC not only for cross country but also to strengthen urban and remote area connectivity, he said.

He added that major cities and towns across the states/UTs are adequately connected with OFCs.

Further, in a bid to to improve fibre availability beyond metro cities, the BharatNet project, which aims to provide fibre connectivity to all gram panchayats (GPs) in India, has even been extended to include all inhabited villages beyond GPs.