bbnl e-magazine bharatnet · 2015-11-17 · edamalakudy, with no road connectivity, no electricity...

BharatNetINTERACTIVE E-MAGAZINE BY BHARAT BROADBAND NETWORK LIMITEDVolume I | Inaugural issue 1 | October 2015

E-MAGAZINE

What’s Inside

BBNL

Access across India

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@BBNL

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It gives me immense pleasure to launch the first edition of our

very own magazine, “BharatNet@BBNL”.

As you all know, it is the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister

that India be a digitally empowered nation. The Ministry of

Communication and Information Technology has commenced

the ‘Digital India’ initiative, which would act as the catalyst for

this transformation. Years ago, John Gage of Sun Microsystems

had famously proclaimed that ‘the network is the computer.’

That piece of wisdom holds true even today, with mobile

networks and devices becoming a part of our everyday urban

life, providing instant information access. However, we need

to go well beyond the city limits if we are to truly empower

our citizens and improve the quality of life in rural areas, by

providing them access to essential services such as education

and healthcare.

Given the constraint of 4G networks not being available in

rural or semi-urban areas in the near future, I see BBNL as the

key enabler for bringing socio-economic change by providing

network access at the Gram Panchayat level. I call upon

officers in BBNL to commit themselves to making Digital India

a reality by ensuring that all sanctioned projects are completed

within the boundaries of cost and time, while meeting desired

standards of quality.

This magazine will be a part of our strategy to disseminate

information across the organization and ‘connect’ us all in the

pursuit of our common goal.

I wish all officers of BBNL the very best for their future!.

Aruna Sundarajan

From the CMD’s Desk

..... Back to Contents

The role of high speed Broadband in transforming the livelihoods of millions can hardly be over emphasised. With endless transformational possibilities and limitless power to empower those at the bottom of the pyramid ,Broadband has unmistakably become the foundation stone of our Hon’ble PM’s Digital India programme. We, at BBNL, feel privileged to be working for an Organisation that has become one of the key instruments for bringing about this transformation and making the vision of “Digital India” a reality.

From the conception of an idea in June 2011 , to the approval of the proposal by the GoI in October 2011 and incorporation of BBNL on February 25 ,2012 as a special purpose vehicle(SPV) for establishment , management and operation of NOFN and the period since then , the journey for BBNL has indeed been quite a roller coaster ride . However, one can hardly deny that this has been a great learning experience for all of us.

The earliest NOFN Pilot projects have taught us that merely focusing on the “supply side” of the Broadband in not enough to accelerate the proliferation and use of Broadband in the country. The “demand side” is equally important. A holistic approach alone will bear fruit ; an approach that focuses on the development of the entire eco-system encompassing all possible stakeholders ranging from consumers, infrastructure providers ,investors, Central government, State governments ,private sector, panchayats (local self governing bodies), NGOs, content providers, Application developers etc.

The TRAI Recommendations on “Delivering Broadband Quickly: What do we need to do? ” dated 17/04/2015 echoes similar sentiments when it says…

“There is a school of thought which goes by the oft challenged law of markets in classical economics i.e. the French economist J.B Say’s Law which states that ‘production is the source of demand’ i.e. that supply creates its own demand……... It is fundamentally flawed in case of BB services as the presumption that supply will indeed create its own demand fails to take into account the customization of the product for the customer, skill sets of potential customers and the availability of suitable business models for individual customers. BB consumption requires a highly individual-oriented (personalized) approach to content, applications and access. The use of BB can thus be promoted by adoption of a pragmatic approach which takes into account the tastes and preferences of consumers and especially large consumer groups such as teachers, doctors, consultants, other professionals, public

From the Editor’s Desk


sector and private sector, who require a sustainable business model. It is also true that unlike consumption of voice, consumption of digital products requires greater degree of skill sets to access and operate such products.”

Another learning has been the delays caused due to impediments in getting the Right of Way ( RoW). There is a need of enunciating a national RoW policy to ensure uniformity in costs and processes . Action points suggested by TRAI in their recommendations merit a serious look.

Yet another area of phenomenal challenge is O&M of the rolled out network. With a multiplicity of network elements and their controlling agencies involved , tracking and apportioning of the end –to-end SLA to the respective agencies would indeed require some degree of technological innovation .

We at BBNL are presently at cross roads… the path travelled so far surely needs a course correction and a new path needs to be chalked out taking a full 360 degree view of the project . These are interesting and exciting times to be in, looking at the kind of euphoria witnessed during our Hon’ble PM ‘s visit to the Silicon Valley and commitment shown towards Digital India Program by the so called Czars of the Digital World .The time has indeed come to look back at the journey so far , feel good about our achievements till date and while learning from our past experiences , rise to the occasion and meet the enormous challenges that are involved in building a Digital India, a connected India, and an empowered India! What is now required is fast decisions to fundamentally alter the direction of NOFN.

It gives me great pleasure to bring you the inaugural issue of our BBNL magazine which is the outcome of a collaborative effort drawing on insights and contributions from a large number of people .I wish to sincerely thank all the people who have contributed towards making this e- magazine a reality .Through this e- magazine ,we wish to not only showcase our achievements and share our experiences but also remain connected both from within BBNL and without .After all ,great power comes out of remaining connected ! Hope you find the magazine interesting and useful .We look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions .

Warmest Regards Deepa Tyagi, CGM (WT), BBNL


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T H E J O U R N E Y

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CPSU District Block GPs Incremental cable to be laid (km) PLB laid (km) OFC laid (km)

BSNL 408 2,114 82,121 1,73,430 74,185 (42.68%) 56,616 (32.64%)

RailTel 45 231 10,680 20,819 6,755 (32.25%) 3,556 (17.08%)

PGCIL 37 386 8,255 21,612 10,930 (50.57%) 5,548 (25.67%)

Total 490 2,731 1,01,056 2,15,862 91,870 (42.56%) 65,720 (30.45%)

The BBNL Story so far.....P.K. Agarwal, Director (P), BBNL

P.K. Agarwal, Director (P), BBNL

The Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) was incorporated on 25/02/2012 with the aim to carry out the business of establishment, management, and operation of National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) and with a view to provide high speed broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) by extending the existing and future optical fibre network to provide access to bandwidth in a non- discriminatory manner to all eligible service providers. The project is funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), Department of Telecom, Ministry of Communications & IT, Govt. of India.

NOFN is the largest rural connectivity project of its kind in the world. It seeks to link each of the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of India through Broadband optical fibre network. On its completion, NOFN is expected to facilitate Broadband connectivity to over 600 million rural citizens of the country. It is expected that the establishment of NOFN (BharatNet) would not only have a transformational impact on the lives of citizens, but it would also open up new avenues for Access service providers such as Telecom Service Providers, Internet Service Providers, Cable TV Operators, Content Providers etc. to launch next generation services, and spur creation of local employment opportunities encompassing e-commerce, IT outsourcing, rural BPOs etc. as well as services such as e-banking, e-health and e-education for inclusive growth. This will also enable delivery of various services such as local planning, management, monitoring and payments under Government schemes at panchayat level.

On 12th January, 2015 Idduki district in Kerala

became India’s first ever district to be covered by High Speed Rural

Broadband access. Edamalakudy, with no

road connectivity, no electricity and no water

supply till some time back - can now boast of

Broadband Internet & Mobile voice services.

BSNL/PGCIL/Railtel have finalised tenders for trenching and pipe laying for 2,397 blocks. The purchase orders for supply of 2,15,035 km of PLB ducts and work has been started in 2,100 blocks. Cable being laid out at 28,177 Gram Panchayats

Status of BharatNet (NOFN) as on 4th October, 2015 - Phase - I


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Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at launch of Digital India week

As of 11th Oct 2015, around 93,266 Kms of PLB Duct covering 37,995 Gram Panchayats, 66,877 Kms of Optical Fiber Cable covering 28,595 GPs have been laid in 27 States and 2 UTs across the country. Around 3,200 GPs have been connected and are ready for use and work in many more is currently in progress.

Kerala, Puducherry and Chandigarh have been completely linked under the project. Other States where the Gram Panchayats have been made active include Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh etc.

Currently the project under NOFN is being implemented by three central PSUs (CPSUs) namely BSNL, PGCIL and Railtel in the phase first. A key feature of the project is that the GPON equipment used in the project has been indigenously designed

and developed by C-DOT and manufactured domestically.

The project is centrally managed by BBNL using a high capacity Network Management System being developed by C-DOT.

Recognizing the importance of NOFN (BharatNet) project, specifically with respect to bridging the huge digital divide, focus is being put on timely and effective delivery of the project. Since the time the current Government has come to power, the pace of implementation of the project has been substantially accelerated.

Three Pilot Projects have also been completed to cover 59 Gram Panchayats of Arain Block in Ajmer District (Rajasthan), Panisagar Block in North Tripura District (Tripura), Paravada Block in Vishakhapatnam District (A.P.).

NOFN HIGHLIGHTS

Inauguration of NOFN commissioning at Idukki, Kerala

S.NO. STATEDISTRICTS TO BE COMPLETED BY

MARCH 16

1 Kerala All 14 districts2 Puducherry Puducherry3 Punjab Chandigarh4 Karnataka Bangluru urban5 Assam Kamrup Metro6 Bihar Sheohar7 Chhattisgarh Balrampur8 Gujrat Anand9 Haryana Faridabad10 Jharkhand Ramgarh11 Manipur Bishnupur12 MP Indore13 Odisha Jagatsinghpur14 Rajasthan Ajmer

15 Tripura Unokoti16 UKD Haridwar17 UP-E Lucknow18 UP-W G. B. Nagar19 WB Purulia20 Maharashtra Nagpur

Plan for completion of atleast one district per state as per PMO Directive


T H E J O U R N E Y

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Access to Broadband significantly boosts economic growth. A World Bank study conducted in 2009 shows that for every 10 percentage points of broadband penetration, developing economies grew by 1.38 percent whereas developed countries’ economies grew by 1.21 percent. A study conducted by Indian Council for Research and International Economic Relations (ICRIER) in 2012 reports that Indian States can be expected to grow by 1.08% points for every 10% increase in the number of internet subscribers. Taking the findings of this report as the base, it is estimated that NOFN (BharatNet) will provide economic benefits of around INR 66,500 Cr.Digital India is a flagship programme of the Central Government which aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The provision of broadband connectivity to every citizen is one of the key objectives of Digital India, and the commissioning of the BharatNet is expected to mark a significant step towards realization of this ambitious vision. The Project was envisaged as a Centre-State joint effort. State Governments are expected to contribute by way of not levying any RoW charges thus require suitable tri-partite MoU to be signed by GOI, State Governments & BBNL. Tri-partite MoU has been signed with all states and Union Territories except Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep.

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS On 12th January, 2015 Idduki district in Kerala became India’s first ever district to get wholly covered by High Speed Rural Broadband access. Edamalakudy Gram Panchayat of Kerala a remotely located tribal Gram Panchayat with no road connectivity, no electricity and no water supply till some time back - can now boast of Broadband Internet as well as

Mobile voice services. Edamalakudy is connected to the outside world through digital network. This is an example of the transformational effects that Broadband would have on the lives of rural population.

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modiji commissioned India’s First Hi-Speed Rural Broadband Network BharatNet under the Digital India Programme at a function held in New Delhi on 1st July, 2015. The event marked a key milestone in ushering in a new era of Digital India.

A mega event was planned for National launch of Digital India programme and was celebrated nationwide from 1st July 2015 to 7th July 2015 with objective to inform, educate and engage citizens through organization of events at large number of digital point of presence such as Gram Panchayat / Common Service Center / Post Offices / Schools etc. BBNL organized events in 30 Gram Panchayats (GPs) across 12 States and UTs. Various E-Services like E-education, E-Health, E-governance and Internet Services etc. were demonstrated to people and to officials at Gram Panchayats using NOFN / BharatNet network. Further Interaction with people through video conferencing were conducted between GP and venues for Digital India week programme with other offices in New Delhi.

STRATEGIES FOR GROWTHBBNL is faced with challenging target in the ensuing years. Going forward the Government of India constituted a committee to review the strategy and approach towards speedy implementation of National Optical fiber network (NOFN) vide Notification dated 4th Jan 2015. The committee has analysed the causes in detail and made recommendation regarding alternative

Quiz organised among children through video conferencing

Digital India week celebration


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DWC pipe laying and depth Measurement JCB machine in action

Manual Trenching PLB Duct Laying in progress

models of implementation, taking into account the diversity of the country, the varying contexts and the different capabilities of various states in this field. It has also kept in mind the need to tap the expertise of private sector. BharatNet has been conceived uniting the tremendous capacities of Centre, States and Private sector to deliver the dream of Digital India.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT• Development of Main Data Centre at Delhi and DR

Data Centre at Bengaluru for hosting IT infrastructure and Network Operation Centre.

• Development of Network Management System (NMS) by CDOT for monitoring of the entire NOFN network. The NMS system has been deployed in geographical high availability architecture with Main and DR Data Centres. NMS System provides

Fault Management, Trouble Ticketing, Performance Management, Inventory Management, Service Provisioning capabilities along with integration with GIS system for Live Monitoring of Electronics on GIS Map.

• Development of Planning Tool by CDOT for GPON Network

• Development of Centralized Geographical Information System by NIC using approx. 5400 Sheets purchased from Maps of India. For ongoing Fiber Network & GPON System roll-out, GIS system is capturing details of Outside Plant features, Fiber Routes and storing As-Built Diagrams.

• Development of Project Management System with Prime Vera tool for planning & managing Project activities and collaborating between BBNL Corporate office and State PMUs.


B U I L D I N G B L O C K S

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C-DoT’s GPON An Innovative solution for “Digital India”Contributed by CDOT

GPON (FTTH)Today’s society is feeling the requirement of high bandwidth at reasonable cost for supporting and tapping the advantages of latest developments and innovations happening in the field of telecom and IT like emerging IPTV, smart homes/villages/cities, e-tech services i.e., e-Governance, e-Commerce, e-education, e-medicine etc. Intrinsic limitations of Wireless technologies make Optical fibre technologies an ideal alternate for meeting this ever-growing bandwidth demand.

A passive optical network (PON) is a telecommunications network that uses unpowered optical splitters, usually placed near customer end, to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple premises. Thus expensive electronics, laser and fibre are shared with multiple customers, thereby, reducing the CAPEX per link. In addition to reduction in CAPEX, PON deployment also results in reduced numbers of telecom installations which are required to be managed

C-DOT GPON system offers an excellent mix of triple play services

(voice, data and video) to subscribers. This is an indigenous

development of C-DOT and offers

advantages in terms of appropriateness for

Indian environment, Innovation and Local

Manufacturing.

B U I L D I N G B L O C K S OF BBNL


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by the service provider (because of longer reach of PON as well as compactness of the solution) with better power efficiency compared to copper or wireless based solutions. This leads to continuous cost saving for the service provider as the OPEX is also greatly reduced.

Gigabit capable Passive Optical Networks i.e., GPON is seen as the technology of choice as it provides higher bandwidth, better QoS and enhanced scalability compared to any other PON technology. GPON is defined by ITU-T recommendation series G.984.1 through G.984.6. GPON can transport not only Ethernet, but also ATM and TDM traffic. GPON network consists of mainly two active transmission equipments, namely- Optical Line Terminal (OLT) and Optical Network Unit (ONU) or Optical Network Terminal (ONT). GPON supports triple-play services, high-bandwidth, long reach (up-to 60km), etc. Another important aspect of GPON is from the perspective of ease of operating and maintaining the entire network

as ONTs (and consequently all the different ports of the same) can be managed from the OLT through a standardized interface called OMCI (ONU Management and Control Interface). Remote management of entire network of OLTs and ONTs can be carried out centrally through Element Management System (EMS) and/or Network Management System (NMS) which can be connected to the OLTs (and subsequently to ONTs via OMCI) through in band management or out of band management as per service provider’s requirement. Standardization of OMCI ensures that OLT equipment of one vendor is able to inter-operate with the ONT of another vendor. A single fibre from the OLT runs to a passive Optical Splitter (passive means, it does not require any power to operate) which is located near the users’ locations. The Optical Splitter merely divides the optical power into N separate paths to the users. The optical paths can vary between 2 to 128. From the Optical Splitter, a single mode

(SM) fibre strand run to each user. GPON adopts two multiplexing mechanisms- (a) in downstream direction (i.e. from OLT to users), data packets are transmitted in an broadcast manner, but encryption (AES) is used to prevent eavesdropping, (b) in upstream direction (i.e. from users to OLT), data packets are transmitted in a TDMA manner. The scheme is depicted in figure below.

C-DOT GPONC-DOT GPON system offers an excellent mix of triple play services (voice, data and video) to subscribers.

This is an indigenous development of C-DOT and offers advantages in terms of appropriateness for Indian environment, Innovation and Local Manufacturing.

It consists of OLT as CO unit and ONTs as terminal units. It has rich portfolio catering to demands of almost every sector with different types of OLTs as well as ONTs. OLT types include Chassis based



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OLT, Eight port OLT and Four port OLT. Different types of ONTs have been designed to take care of the unique requirements of different market segments.

Each OLT is connected to set of ONTs using a passive splitter. It offers downstream (DS) rate of 2.488Gbps and upstream (US) rate of 1.244Gbps. DS and US wavelengths used are 1490 nm and 1310 nm respectively. RF video is transmitted on 1550nm wavelength. Single optical fibre is used for both Upstream and downstream as well as RF video transmission.

The C-DOT GPON system complies with TEC GR No.: GR/PON-

01/02 APRIL 2008, titled: Generic Requirements for FTTH/FTTB/FTTC Broadband Applications using GPON Technology.

The general characteristics, architecture, specifications, ONT management and control interface (OMCI) etc. of C-DOT GPON are compliant to ITU-T Rec. G.984 series.

OLTOLT is the central office equipment of the GPON system and provides the Service Node interfaces for the system. C-DoT has three types of OLTs viz., (i) Chassis based OLT (ii) Eight port OLT and (iii) Four port OLT. OLT also provides the EMS &

LCT Interfaces of the GPON system. OLT may also be interfaced with C-DOT’s Fiber Fault Localization System (FFLS) to characterize the PON side optical fibre and determine any cable fault from the Central Office.

(Electrical or Optical). This type of OLT can be positioned where the number of subscribers are comparatively less and /or Hospitals, Institutional campuses etc.

Damini NetDamini Net is unique and innovative concept (patent awaited) of C-DOT to connect different OLTs from SNI side. In this scheme different OLTs are connected in Ring configuration with an IP/MPLS Router.

Implementation of ERPS protocol ensures sub-50ms protection and recovery switching for Ethernet traffic and at the same time avoiding the formation of loops at the Ethernet layer. This eliminates the need of Router behind each OLT for network connectivity. Thus, this architecture offers benefits like CAPEX & OPEX reduction, ease of operation, management and installation.

ONTsONT system is the access node in FTTx architecture of GPON

Chassis Based OLT It is a multiple card system (two Switch and Controller Cards and up-to 12 Line cards) housed in 19 inches rack and comprising 12U high indigenous chassis with a provision to terminate 48 PON interfaces (with 1:1 protection )or 96 PON interfaces (with no protection) with 6 10G/1G Ethernet Interfaces towards core network and 41G Ethernet interfaces for management. In its full capacity this OLT can serve up to 12288 ONTs and targeted segment for this type of OLT are service providers requiring to provide carrier class services to a large number of subscribers.

Eight port OLTEight port OLT is housed in a 1U box which can be inserted in 19 inches wide rack and can also be placed on table this OLT has provision to terminate 4 PON interfaces (with 1:1 protection )or 8 interfaces (with no protection ). Towards the core network, it provides 2 10G and 4 numbers of 1G Ethernet interfaces.

Four port OLTThis is smaller and cost effective version of OLT suitable for applications where there is limited requirements of

PON ports and cost is major factor like small offices, small residential units etc. It is housed in a 1U small box to be placed on table. It has the provision to terminate 4 PON interfaces with 1:1 protection or 8 unprotected interfaces with no protection towards PON side. Towards the core network, it provides single 10G and 2 numbers of 1G Ethernet interfaces (Electrical or Optical).

OLT


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet

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Mudrika Damak (ONT-Ring)GPON standard, as outlined in ITU-T recommendations, supports multiple redundancy options to take care of fiber cut as well as hardware

failure thus ensuring enhanced quality of service to the user. One of these options (Type – C) actually supports end to end fiber redundancy between OLT and ONT (including the redundancy of passive splitter in between). This ensures that services of any ONT will not be affected irrespective of the location of fiber cut. Type C protection can be deployed in the form of a ring in the network and C-DoT with its innovative Mudrika Damak solution has provided GPON, the power of Ring! In this architecture two optical fibers are terminated on the GPON-ONT.

Samay DamakOne of the innovative applications of GPON is that it can be used as backhaul for Base stations providing mobile services. This is critical

because non-conforming synchronization may result in dropped calls and service disruptions in IPTV and RTG (Real Time Gamers) Services. Moreover, mobile backhaul requires carrier-class reliability.

Fibre Damak for Long distance WiFiWith use of suitable optics at UNI, the reach of this ONT can be extended upto additional 80 Km. Long Distance WiFi’, another C-DOT’s

product BBWT (Broad band Wireless Terminal) will suit the requirement of Gram Panchayat for connecting the remotest village.

Sangeet DamakThis ONT is clearly an example of C-DOT’s ‘out of the box’ thinking. Apart from all the regular features of an ONT, this product has some unique features like FM radio receiver, audio streaming and public announcements support. These kind of features which are very fruitful to people in village panchayat are only available in this C-DoT’s ONT.

Backhaul DamakKeeping in view that application

of ONT is not restricted to access node at user premises, this Backhaul Damak was designed. Apart from other regular interfaces such as Gigabit Ethernet, POTS, USB etc. this ONT provides E1 interfaces at user side to enable it to be used as a backhaul for Cellular Base stations.

Janta Damak or Lok DamakInnovators at C-DOT very well knew that in order to excel in the market we need to focus on very important aspect of technology, which is Cost. This lead the way in designing of what we call lowest cost ONT or “Janta Damak” to cater for the needs of huge market requiring lowest cost solution. This ONT provides four 100Mbps Ethernet ports along with two POTS lines to customers and comes in attractive small plastic packaging.

Magic Damak (DRAX ONT)This product is aptly called “magic” due to the

marvelous features it supports for bringing connectivity and ease of operation to vast volumes of India’s rural population with low / no literacy levels. This product not only offers high internet bandwidth through normal ONT capabilities but also provides e-governance, e-education, e-marketing and e-services (ticket booking etc.) with comfort and ease. With features like multi lingual support, audio announcements,

ONTs



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system. These systems are single card systems and are designed to serve as residential/backhaul unit,

with different interfaces like Gigabit Ethernet, POTS, Video, WiFi, USB, E1, ToD etc. Most of the ONTs have Dying Gasp feature which enable the administrator at OLT to differentiate between Fibre cut and ONT power outage and thus isolating the fault quickly.

Towards ODN side ONT has fiber (GPON) interface. It works on 12V DC. AC-DC Adapter is provided to support working with 160-270V, 50Hz AC supply. It has low power dissipation and works with natural cooling.

Panchayat Installation BoxThis box is combination of ONT, co-located splitter, Battery and CCU for Solar Power, all adeptly integrated in a user friendly rugged enclosure. This is ideally suited for installation at Gram Panchayats to provide triple play services with scope of extension of GPON link and can operate on Green alternatives such as Solar Power. The ONT

Fibre Fault Localization SystemC-DOT has developed an exhaustive solution comprising of hardware as well as software for accurately locating the geographical location of the fault i.e., fibre cut in the ODN automatically, as soon as the fault occurs. This is Simultaneous and Centralized Multiple Fibre Fault Detection system supporting automatic fault status update and Fibre health index monitoring without affecting the data traffic. This greatly reduces the downtime and the maintenance effort required in locating the fault resulting in enhanced QoS and better user experience.

highly visual based user interfaces, site specific customization and low power, this product is going to revolutionize the way rural Indians get benefitted by Internet.

Titli DamakDespite the presence of various kinds of ONTs in market, the demand of compact and low maintenance ONT, which could ideally serve for Fiber

To The Home and Fiber To The Desk deployment have been on the rise ever since. Keeping in view

these needs, CDOT has come up with this unique and indigenously developed ONT Titli Damak. Using this, ultra-broadband access is provided not only for home but also for commercial office users. This palm sized, sleek, compact and portable ONT, not only provides triple play services at customer premises but is also designed to fulfil BPO’s data bandwidth requirement through transparent LAN services.

It supports 2 auto-adapting Gigabit ports, 2 ports for IP telephony and one USB port for mobile charging, ensuring excellent experience with VoIP, Internet and HD video services.


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can be any ONT depending on the requirement. This unique packaging is designed keeping in view the Indian rural environment.

This will be very useful from the perspective of installation as the complete box can be assembled at factory and shipped at site. There, it can be simply hung on a wall at Panchayat Building and just by connecting necessary cables, services can be rolled out.

Dolphin, Double Edge PackagesAll the C-DOT ONTs come with unique and fabulous packaging with indigenous innovation that every-one would feel pride in owning one of these. Best examples for these are Dolphin and Double Edged packages shown in figure below. These derive their names form the shapes they possess.

Actual Deployment of the C-DOT’s GPON SystemThe first deployment of the C-DOT’s GPON system was carried out almost five years back when the solution was deployed in the BSNL network in Ajmer and services were formally inaugurated in December’2010. Subsequently C-DOT’s GPON solution has been tested and/or deployed in multiple networks in various public sector, private sector and defense networks.

C-DOT has also transferred the technology of GPON to multiple manufacturers both in public as well as private sector to give boost to local manufacturing. In fact, one of the licensees of C-DOT’s GPON technology came out as a lowest bidder in the BBNL’s tender for GPON procurement and has, since then, installed more than 1000

OLTs and 10000 ONTs in the BBNL network.

Thus C-DOT with its vast portfolio of indigenously designed GPON solution is poised to play a vital role in efficiently executing two significant and ambitious programs recently launched by Government of India viz. “Digital India” and “Make in India”. Cost effective GPON solution is best suited to bridge the digital divide that exists between urban & rural, rich & poor. Already GPON deployment (manufactured in India based on C-DOT’s technology) is taking place between Block headquarters and Gram Panchayats under “BharatNet” program. Future augurs well for more such deployment of indigenously designed telecom products and solutions.

Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) has emerged as one of the key enabling technologies for FTTH deployments. In fact the bandwidth and applications currently carried over FTTH network are just the tip of the iceberg – the larger potential still awaits.

Next–generation PON1(NG-PON1) which caters for speeds of 10 Gbps, has been standardised as ITUT Rec.G.987 and is currently being commercially deployed in a few countries.

NG-PON2 which offers speed of upto 40 Gbps is still undergoing development. The roadmap for the long term evolution of PON networks indicates that the technology can be expected to address 100 Gbps data rates over distances in access in 100 kms by 2025.



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NOFN Network Management System

INTRODUCTIONIn October 2011, Government of India approved the setting up of National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) to provide broadband connectivity covering all the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country. After setting up of such a widespread broadband network, effective Operations Management of NOFN, especially rural network, is a great challenge.

The Central NOFN NMS is one of the key technology tools which will enable BBNL to effectively manage & efficiently utilize the broadband network with optimum number of resources. NMS provides end-to-end network management capabilities by seamlessly integrating the capabilities of underlying EMS/ isolated modules. It provides single point of Configuration, Provisioning, Monitoring and Management capabilities in Multi-vendor and Multi-partner fiber optic cable network. The broad FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance and Security) functionalities of a NMS can be represented as below:-

NMS FEATURES BBNL would be monitoring the network elements comprising of active (OLT & ONT) and passive (Fibre) components. There are multiple agencies involved in building & maintenance of the entire GPON based NOFN including fibres and the core Network Elements like OLT/ ONTs, NMS will provide a unified network view for NOFN.

Tejpal Singh, GM, NMS, BBNL

Tejpal Singh, GM, NMS, BBNL

Discuss & Configure

Central NMS

Manage ProvisionMonitor

The Central NOFN NMS is one of the key

technology tools which will enable BBNL to

effectively manage & efficiently utilize the broadband network

with optimum number of resources.


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In this multi partner/vendor environment, NMS will help not only to configure and provision services but also to monitor and manage the activities across entire network. It will also provide ability to proactively monitor network elements & their performance, correlate the events, advance alerting, and detect impacting thresholds.

These capabilities shall enable BBNL to proactively manage the network to deliver committed QoS and meet the customer needs. The NMS application shall provide BBNL the capabilities to detect, correlate, alert and manage the network issues/faults through seamless communication with concerned owner/stakeholders. The overall view of NMS is indicated below.

The core functionalities of NMS can be grouped under the following broad categories:

a) ConfigurationIt implies centralized configuration of Network Elements (NE) like OLT’s & ONT’s as per desired policy parameters. It shall create and update network inventory in the central NMS. All the services which will be provisioned to customers shall be configured first in NMS before they can be provisioned to prospective customers. It shall define various Service type and related service parameters as defined in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

b) ProvisionNMS will receive service requests from Business Support System (BSS) layer for provisioning and provision services as per pre-configured parameters

and allocate network resources. The services which are going to be delivered may have predefined performance parameters and SLA requirements. The network resources will be allocated by respective NE’s as per service and attached SLA.

c) MonitoringMonitoring function of NMS includes monitoring of Network Element faults and on-demand monitoring of QoS and Performance parameters. It will include pro-active monitoring of faults, communication to respective partners, Trouble Ticket generation, escalation and their tracking for resolution. This will be backed by Root Cause Analysis and historical reports. Reports will cover the module wise reports as well as the unified dashboard. It will also enable preventive maintenance through performance management of network elements.

d) Manage• Network & Network Element Performance• SLA• Network Availability• Service Provisioning• Network Restoration• Network capacity plan

e) Other Key Features• Role Based Access to BBNL/NOC/Partner & Vendor• Network Element Software Version Control &

Upgrade Management• Location ID & IP Address Management• Fibre network topology Management • GIS Integration

TYPICAL NETWORK OPERATIONS CENTERNetwork Operations Center (NOC) is the central location where all the Monitoring & Management functions will be executed by the team Operations & Management team using NMS and OSS/BSS system. The NOC includes a video wall and seating space to monitor the Network health and configuration, management, provision functions.

SECURITY

RE

PO

RT

ING

SLA

PERFORMANCE

• Net Configuration• Network Inventory• Configuration

Backup / restore

• Fiber Management• Fault Management

• Service Provisioning

• Network Support

• Network Data Management

Partners

Vendors

Conf

igu

ration

Monitorin

g

ProvisionM

anagement



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DCNConnecting the Distant Network Elements to the Central EMSDeepa Tyagi, CGM (WT), BBNL

Deepa Tyagi, CGM (WT), BBNL

BACKGROUND BBNL has been mandated to set up the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) to provide broadband connectivity to around 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country by utilising on lease basis, the existing OF cable of three partner CPSUs and extending the OFC connectivity to the GPs by laying the incremental OF cable and installing ONT/OLTEs at GPs and blocks respectively.

To effectively manage /monitor /control this NOFN infrastructure centrally, a Network Operations Center (NOC) in Delhi/NCR and a Disaster Recovery NOC in Bangalore is being set up.

NEED FOR DCN For managing /monitoring /controlling the NOFN infrastructure (comprising the of Cable and the GPON Network elements namely OLTE and ONT) through the central NOC, the supervisory /management data would be required to flow from the network elements (via Element Management System, EMS) to the central NOC and back.To enable this flow of data from each of the OLTEs to the central NOC and vice–versa, a 2 Mbps connectivity has been setup from each of the OLTEs to the NOC at spoke. Hub links have been provided at NOC with aggregated bandwidth.

This network comprising 2 Mbps links from all the OLTEs to the Central Data Center / NOC at spoke and Hub links with aggregated bandwidth at Central Data Centre/NOC is what is referred to as Data Communications Network (DCN).

MODEL ADOPTED FOR SETTING UP OF DCN BBNL has chosen to establish the NOFN DCN by subscribing to MPLS based Managed Services offered by BSNL, on a completely OPEX based model.

This model entails setting up of a link as well as providing the customer end router (MPLS CE Router) by BSNL at spoke (OLT locations) and managing the links as well as the CE Router for BBNL on SLA basis. At the Hub (involving 4 locations namely Data Centre main and DR, NOC main and DR)

BBNL has chosen to establish the NOFN

DCN by subscribing to MPLS based Managed

Services offered by BSNL, on a completely

OPEX based model.This model entails

setting up of a link as well as providing the customer end router

(MPLS CE Router) by BSNL at spoke

(OLT locations) and managing the links as

well as the CE Router for BBNL on SLA basis.


21

only the links would be provided and managed by BSNL on SLA basis, while the CE Router shall be provided and managed by BBNL.

In Fig 1, the MPLS VPN CORE NETWORK (MPLS Cloud) is a robust High End Router (Core & PE Routers) network connected in way to provide multiple redundancies to customers. CE Routers are placed at customer premises and are part of Customer network. In MNS with router services, CE routers are part of Service provider network even it is placed at customer premises. For OLT site at Block level, routers & modems are part of Managed Network Services on OPEX model along with the MPLS bandwidth. Service provider will install, commission & maintain the requisite hardware also as per the defined SLA within the managed services contract. This also facilitates a single point of contact for both hardware & bandwidth issues. As OLT locations are remote sites, BBNL would remain free for all other issues e.g. space/power/racks etc. for hardware.

In Fig 2, the high end routers for DC/NOC(Main /DR sites) are proposed to be arranged by BBNL; to be purchased along with DC/DR hardware while the CE routers at OLT location are proposed on OPEX model as part of TSP’s Managed Network Services.

Highlights of BSNL MNS • SLA uptime @99% through a dedicated channel

partner.• MPLS NOC at Bangalore (with a mirror image at

Mumbai) with a continuous polling time of 3 minutes. • DCN equipment connected to OLT in a plug and play

mode and housed in a specially designed cabinet (with an inbuilt DC (-48V) to AC (220V) converter ) that is mounted on top of the OLT rack .

• BBNL NOC integrated with BSNL (Channel Partner) NOC for effective monitoring, easier trouble shooting and speedier fault resolution.

• DCN Roll out Tracking Tool for effective monitoring. • BSNL/Channel partner‘s Proactive monitoring

through Tatpar Portal Helpdesk.

PE Router

MPLS VPN Core Network(MPLS Cloud)

PE Router

PE RouterPE Router

PE Router

Core Router

Core Router

Core Router

Core RouterCE Router

CE Router

Customer Network Customer Network

Fig 1: BSNL MPLS Network Architecture

Fig 2: Managed Network Service

Trimax project monitoring tool

DCN cabinet mounted on top of OLT Rack

DCN Cabinet housing CE Router, Modem/convertor and DC-AC convertor


mailto:[email protected]%25


22

GIS for NOFN ProjectRajni Taneja, CGM (GIS)

Rajni Taneja, CGM (GIS)

INTRODUCTIONGovernment of India has approved on 25-10-2011, the setting up of National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) to meet a very ambitious target of connecting 2,50,000 GPs spread across the country to their Block HQ which are around 6,600 by laying incremental Optical Fiber Cable and utilizing the existing optical fiber network of public sector companies. This would ensure broadband connectivity with adequate bandwidth to the Gram Panchayats. This project is a part of Digital India Program set by Govt of India. This will help to bridge the digital divide and will facilitate the growth of Broadband in the country. After setting up of such a widespread broadband network, effective Operations Management of NOFN, especially rural network, is a great challenge.

To meet the vision, mission and objectives set by BBNL to create NOFN, the Rural Telecom network, it is required to address all those challenges that currently Telecom Industry is coming across for growth and sustainability, like geographical spread, large number of features, continuously evolving telecom technology, tremendous competition, market development, financial & inventory controls, maximization of utilization of installed physical inventory and high quality of uninterrupted service to the customers.

There are a number of Telecom Tools and Applications to address these challenges in the area of Capacity Planning, Demand Forecasting, Network Planning, Operation and Maintenance (OSS), Network Management (NMS), Business and Customer Handling (BSS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) etc. The use of these tools/applications is possible using the Telecom Database and outcome includes schematic representation of network, creation and comparison of different versions of network plans, automating network engineering and element codification etc.

GIS platform with dedicated Telecom Applications is the optimum solution ideally suited to meet all of these requirements and appropriately address the challenges. It will also serve the business needs of the organization, as it can store the network inventory in a geographical manner, and its interfacing with network, O & M and customer facing systems enables to meet the business requirements successfully. It is feasible because of specially developed telecom data model and functionalities.

GIS is an efficient technology and a powerful tool that facilitates not only to maintain a geo-

physical inventory of network elements and

OSP objects but it is also to be used for vital

activities like network planning, engineering

and O & M.


23

GIS is an efficient technology and a powerful tool that facilitates not only to maintain a geo-physical inventory of network elements and OSP objects but it is also be used for vital activities like network planning, engineering and O & M. High value addition will be observed by closely integrating the GIS / Telco application with OSS and BSS.

A well designed and implemented Telecom Application based on GIS platform for NOFN will provide capabilities to view, analyze and understand OFC network and enable planning of proposed incremental OFC network for connecting Gram Panchayats to the blocks. It also provides an integrated platform for organizations to synergize various business functions like NMS, OSS, BSS, and ERP etc.

NIC has already captured about 6 lakh Kms of OFC network on GIS platform which will be utilized for GIS for NOFN project. NIC has already developed a base map platform called NICMAPS at 1:50000 scale which is being upgraded to 1:10000 scale. GIS for NOFN will ride over the NIC’s base map platform and leverage the data available on existing OFC assets.

This will enable BBNL to effectively & efficiently utilize the existing OFC network nationwide, capture the various assets of the network on GIS platform for planning, execution and operation & maintenance of the network.

GIS FOR NOFN PROJECTGIS for NOFN is being used in Pre–Implementation Phase: i.e. Survey works, Estimate preparation and finalizing the tender for material and works. Under this phase, the executing agency BSNL, RAILTEL & PGCIL shall be completing the survey and submitting the reports which would be uploaded on GIS maps. This shall form the “NOFN Planned Layer”.

Subsequently, during Implementation / Execution Phase: i.e. trenching and PLB Laying, OFC pulling, splicing and Fiber Testing end to end from Block HQ to respective GPs, the executing agency is expected to provide the execution data periodically in the GIS system, highlighting deviation if any in the network from the planned Network. During Post Execution Phase: i.e. operation & maintenance, provisioning of service, analyzing the demand and market, all the executing agencies are expected to provide ABD (As built Diagram) Diagram with details of Lat / Long at every 20/25 mts / route indicators / turnings / Land Marks. This information, when upload on GIS mapping, will form “NOFN executed layer”. Here the executing / maintenance/ service provisioning agency will be able to make use of the GIS Maps to extract the data by mapping the available fibre / BW to the demographic and other local information to assess the market / demand for services both in the terms of Types, Volume, etc. The maintenance agency will be able to extract data w.r.t the cause of fault, location of fault, area affected,



24

ACHIEVEMENTS Applications have been developed for Data View and Editing for as-is OFC network maps which has been provided for planning, Captured GIS data. About 3000+ Blocks have been completed as on date.


25

services affected etc. this will help to reduce the time taken to restore faults.

MAJOR ACTIVITIESMajor activity in the project is to design and development of application(s) for visualization, management and monitoring of various telecom assets and to assess, estimate and procure the hardware and software required for GIS for NOFN.It also involves mapping the features of Outside Plant and providing repository of as-built and survey data. The proposed GIS Platform will provide for Integration with Cable fault localization system & Planning Tool. It also provides provision for generation of reports, data analysis on GIS platform based on available details of Trenches, Cables, Structures and facilities in the OSP.

The project enables data maintenance at every stage of project for transparency – Route details during planning/ during execution/ after commissioning. The project has provision for training and capacity building activities in GIS mapping so that BBNL may take over the project over a period of time.

GIS NOFN DATA CENTERGIS NOFN data center will be co-located with the NOFN data center being planned in NOFN NMS system.

GIS NOFN OPERATIONS CENTERGIS NOFN Operations Center will also be located at the central location with NMS and NOC being planned for NMS. It will include the seating space/help desk positions for the GIS NOFN operators to monitor and update the network on GIS platform. It will also provide data and application support for commissioned routes. The project has provisions to provide help desk support at zonal level to the field stall for data update and application trouble shooting.

IMPLEMENTING AGENCY A High Level Committee has assigned the GIS NOFN Project to NIC by nomination. RS & GIS Division of National Informatics Centre, a Government body located at “A” Block, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi is implementing the project and it is being co-ordinated and monitored by CGM(GIS) BBNL, Corporate office.

ISSUES/CHALLENGESIn general GIS is a powerful tool to create maps, integrate information, visualize scenarios, and solve complicated problems, present powerful ideas and develop effective solutions. GIS acts as a Platform to bring value addition to any application and hence, to arrive at Location based solutions for the application.

Strategy for implementing GISAppropriate GIS Platform, tools/application and software

need to be in placed to filter the data and present for analysis, i.e. as a strategy, whether GIS will be used as Platform or Tool/application or Service.

Accuracy of GIS DataThe GIS works on various layers overlay together to provide analytical view. GIS data for all the desired layers, be it geographical/physical/ political/ demographic/socitial/lieracy/health/etc need to be accurate, updated and near to real time. It is to be on continuous basis.

Telecom applications and its integration with GISThe desired Applications that are planned to work on GIS platform to bring value addition are required to be well in place and integrated with GIS application. In the present case of NOFN, these are Telecom applications that may require tools such as Network Engineering Tool, Demand forecasting Tool, Capacity Planning Tool, Project Monitoring Tool (both Physical & Financial), Data capturing, Data updating and Data validation tool, O & M Tools (OSS) including fault Location, monitoring and management Tools, Resource/Inventory management tool, Network management Tool (NMS), Customer management Tool (CRM), Business support Tool (BSS) including market analysing/segmentation, Enterprise resource planning tool etc.

Capturing of Telecom dataTo derive maximum value from Telco applications, it is important to have accurate, effective and efficient Database. Therefore, Data modelling, Data attributes and collection, Data digitization and Data entry, Data updation and validation are the major concerns for telecom applications. Telecom network inventory and connectivity involves complicated logical relationships, hence it is a major challenge to capture, and further its migration to GIS platform is equally very complex. Therefore, timely decision, methodology and system need to be in place for all Database related work.

Version managementVersion management of the GIS platform, software, applications, Tools and Database is very important like in other similar case.

The first known use of the term “geographic information

system” was by Roger Tomlinson in the year 1968 in his paper “A Geographic Information System for Regional Planning”. Tomlinson is also acknowledged as the “Father of GIS”.


N E W S F R O M T H E F I E L D

26

IDUKKI

NOFNKeralaP.T.Mathew, CGM (P-II), Kerala & Roy M Jacob, CGM(P), Kerala

P. T. Mathew, CGM (P-II), Kerala

Roy M Jacob, CGM (P), Kerala

INTRODUCTIONNational Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) has been envisaged to provide high speed broadband connectivity to over two and half lakh (2,50,000) Gram Panchayats of India and link 600 million rural citizens of india spread over 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats, 6600 blocks and 631 districts by utilizing Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). The ultimate objective of the scheme is to deliver e-governance , e-health, e-education, e-banking, internet and other services to the rural India. This is to be achieved by utilizing the existing optical fibre cable from the three Public Sector Undertakings (BSNL, Railtel, PowerGrid).This project will enable the Government of India to provide various services nationally up to the Grama Panchayat level.

The incremental OFC so laid was to be owned by the Government and the ownership of the existing fibre was to be continued to be vested with the current owners. NOFN Project is a giant leap which aims at bridging the digital divide in India by linking all Gram Panchayats through a common platform i.e. optical fibre cable.

NOFN envisages to connect all the 977 Grama Panchayats (GPs) and 152 Block Head Quarters (BHQs) in Kerala in the first phase. All the GPs and BHQs in Kerala are to be connected by using the existing optical fiber cable of BSNL and by laying incremental optical fiber cable thereafter.

NOFN PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS1. World’s largest optical fiber rural broadband connectivity project 2. All 2.5 lakh Gram panchayats in India to be connected through optical

fibre3. Minimum 100 mbps bandwidth at each Gram Panchayats

NOFN envisages to connect all the 977 Grama Panchayats

(GPs) and 152 Block Head Quarters

(BHQs) in Kerala in the first phase.


27

4. NOFN to be Non discriminatory Access infrastructure for all service providers

5. Approx 6 lakh kilometer new incremental optical fibre cable to be laid

6. Indigenous equipment design and manufacturing under “ Make in India”

7. High capacity Network management System and network operation Centre

TECHNOLOGY USED National Optic Fibre Network uses Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) Technology which brings fibre cabling and signals to the customer premises using a point-to-multipoint scheme that enables a single optical

fibre to serve multiple premises. The architecture uses passive (unpowered) optical splitters, reducing the cost of equipment compared to point-to-point architectures. The NOFN functions as follows: The Optical Line Terminal (OLT) is placed at BSNL Telephone Exchanges in the BHQ which is connected to Optical Network Terminal (ONT) at Block/Grama Panchayats through optical fibre cable.

NOFN IN KERALANational Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) has been envisaged to provide high speed broadband connectivity to 14 Districts covering 152 Blocks and 977 Grama Panchayats of Kerala and link 18 million

PANCHAYAT MANAGEMENTa) Gram sabha meetings, village

records, updating of citizen databases

b) Effective performance monitoring of Panchayats

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATIONa) Intra-village, intra-district

sharing of practices and resources

b) Communication with Block, and District.

KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION a) Sharing of Agricultural

practices, productivity techniques

b) Small enterprises, Vocational learning.

DELIVERY OF CITIZEN SERVICESa) Delivery of services including

Health, Education and Finance, etc.

b) Single point of interaction to citizens for Centrally sponsored/

Central sector/Statec) Sponsored schemes d) Grievance redressal.

DEVELOPMENTAL PLANNINGa) Transportation and power

connectivity b) Knowledge connectivity c) Provision of drinking water d) Upgradation of health facilities d) Market connectivity which would

enable farmers get the best prices for their products.

UTILITIES OF NOFN FOR PANCHAYATS

Inauguration of NOFN commissioning at Idukki Visit USOF Administrator to Nedumagad



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rural citizens of Kerala, spread over 1129 Grama Panchayats and Block Panchayath Office by utilizing Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF); with an ultimate objective of facilitating delivery of e-governance, e-health , e-education , e-banking , internet and other services to the citizens in rural Kerala. This is achieved by laying incremental optical fibre cable of 787.78 km and utilizing the existing optical fibre cable of 7716.85 km from BSNL. This project will enable the Government of Kerala to provide various e-Governance services up to the Grama Panchayat level by linking this network with KSWAN (Kerala State Wide Area Network) at district level by point to point leased line.

IDUKKI NOFN IMPLEMENTATIONIdukki district in Kerala state became the first district in India for piloting the NOFN project. Currently the District has a total of 8 Block Offices & 53 Gram Panchayats of which 8 Block Offices & 52 Grama Panchayats have been connected on fibre and one GP on VSAT.

11 OLTs are installed in the BSNL telephone exchanges near to the BHQ. OLTs were connected to BSNL RPR (Broadband network) with a backhaul connectivity of 100 Mbps. FTTH service was commissioned. 100 Mb leased line connectivity was also taken from each OLT to DHQ (KSWAN Server). So KSWAN service is also ready for 60 locations.

Equipment and Optical fibre cable details are as shown below.• Existing Fibre used: 803.3Km• Incremental Duct Length for Idukki district: 55.7 km• Additional Optical Fibre: 63.6 Km• Equipment details : OLT-11, ONT- 60 ( 52 for GPs &

8 for Blocks)

As there is no feasibility for laying optical Fibre Cable to Edamalakudy GP in Devikulam Block of Idukki District, it is connected through VSAT. This tribal Gram Panchayat is 34 kms away from the nearest town and has no road connectivity, electricity or water supply. This settlement has been connected to the NOFN through VSAT media which has also provided them with voice connectivity. A micro GSM BTS is also installed by BSNL which is working using solar power.

PROGRESS OF OTHER DISTRICTSThe NOFN project was completed in other 13 districts of Kerala.It is linked with the Broad band network of BSNL and thus the provision of HSI . Thus, Kerala is the first state to complete the NOFN connectivity in the country. NOFN network installation has also been completed .

KERALA NOFN IMPLEMENTATIONIn Kerala, the execution of the project is done by BSNL. BSNL has completed the survey, and laid the incremental fibre of about 787.78 Km, and the network is in place. The bandwidth to each Gram Panchayat is increased manifold and e-applications run smoothly. The details of the infrastructure for Kerala State is as follows:• Existing Fibre to be used: 7716.85 Km• Incremental Duct Length (Total)-: 721 Km completed• Additional Optical Fibre: 787.78 Km• Equipment Utilised: OLT-146, ONT-1129 (977 for

GPs & 152 for Blocks)

FTTH connections has been tested in all the Grama Panchayaths and Block headquarters. (see table)

EXTENSION OF NOFN PLATFORM The NOFN Network is to connect Govt. institutions by laying overhead optical Fiber cable utilising electric poles by KSEB. The pilot project was carried out in ANAD GP of Trivandrum District. Fifteen Government

The Network Diagram of Idukki


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institutions surrounding to ANAD GP were linked with NOFN platform by extending the optical Fibre cable from the Anad GP to these institutions by overhead along the KSEB posts and the ONTs used are of CDOT technology. FTTH connection under the plan 999 was provided to five locations and tested for HSI and video conferencing with New Delhi.

EXTENSION OF KSWAN BY NOFNIt is proposed to connect the OLTs by Point to point leased line to KSWAN at District Head Quarters, so that the State Govt. services can be provided directly to the

Panchayath and Block Offices. The same was tested at Nedumangad OLT and was found to be working satisfactorily. The connectivity diagram is as given below

CONCLUSIONAll the 152 BHQs and 977 GPs were connected by optical fiber network in Kerala. FTTH service can be availed by all the GPs/BHQs in Kerala. E-Governance service also can be extended by connecting the OLTs to DHQs by leased line connectivity.

TABLE: THE DISTRICT WISE DATA IS GIVEN BELOW

Sl. District Name GP BHQ GP+BHQ

Existing OFC

Incremental OFC

OLT Locations

1 ALAPPUZHA 73 12 85 458.345 50.85 10

2 KOZHIKODE 75 12 87 548.503 47.28 9

3 WAYANAD 25 4 29 170.358 15.56 5

4 KASARGODE 38 6 44 406.1 28.22 6

5 KANNUR 81 11 92 602.295 56.88 10

6 IDUKKI 52 8 60 696.778 44.84 11

7 ERNAKULAM 84 14 98 532.746 77.4 14

8 KOLLAM 70 11 81 525.99 44.86 9

9 KOTTAYAM 73 11 84 566.338 51.71 12

10 MALAPPURAM 100 15 115 668.399 100.35 14

11 PALAKKAD 91 13 104 908.969 70.3 14

12 PATHANAMTHITTA 54 8 62 365.427 35.7 8

13 THRISSUR 88 16 104 535.785 108.17 14

14 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 73 11 84 730.818 55.68 10

KERALA TOTAL 977 152 1129 7716.85 787.78 146

One of the main hurdles for FTTH is the “fiberisation’’ of the last few metres towards the subscribers. To circumvent the high costs associated with this last segment, so called “copper – extending technologies‘’ have evolved. Carriers are exploring “fibre to the distribution point ‘’ (FTTdp) which delivers “fibre like ‘’ service rates over the existing copper drop wire infrastructure .FTTdp complements FTTH by avoiding the fiber drop cost in difficult areas. This allows the telco service provider to utilise its existing copper assets, provide a high speed service at a lower cost compared to FTTH. FTTdp is called a ‘ybrid FTTH‘ in that it provides a user experience similar to FTTH but with a “copper extension cord ‘’ between the optical network unit (ONU) and the subscriber. The basic idea behind FTTdp is to deploy fiber as deep into a neighbourhood as is economically feasible, then use existing copper assets the last few hundred meters to the house or apartment. There are several twisted pair copper technologies that are possible contenders for the FTTdp ”copper extension cord’’ application e.g. (i) VDSL 2 profile 17,30, (ii) G.hn, (iii) G.fast.



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NOFN, KarnatakaM. B. Ravichandran, CGM (Projects), M. Abhishek, GM (Project-II), N. Janardhan, GM (Project-I) BBNL, Bengaluru, Karnataka.

ABOUT KARNATAKA STATEKarnataka is a state in southwest India with Arabian Sea coastlines. The capital, Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), is a high-tech hub known for its shopping and nightlife. To the southwest, Mysore is home to lavish temples including Mysore Palace, former seat of the region’s maharajas. Hampi, once the medieval Vijayanagara Empire’s capital, contains ruins of Hindu temples, elephant stables and a stone chariot.

In addition it has a large number of tourist places catering to all kinds of travelers including national parks, beaches, safaris etc. Karnataka is spread over around 2 lakh sq.kms with capital at Bengaluru and it has a population of 6.5 Crores.

NOFN PROJECTAt present in India the broad band services are available by multiple operators up to block level. But below block level these services are not available/poor speed is there. This is due to the fact that presently OFC (Optical Fibre Cable) connectivity is available in all State Capitals, Districts, HQs and upto the Block Level only.In order to bridge this digital divide, there is a plan

The tender for trenching and laying

work has been completed fully for 175 blocks and in

one block tender is pending partially. As on 15.09.2015 Out of

11689 KM of trenching length Pipe/cable to be

laid/blown, 8639 KMs of pipe has been laid and 8051 KMs of OF

Cable has been blown.


31

NOFN, Karnataka

to connect all the 2,50,000 Gram panchayats in the country to the block HQ by optical fibre. To reduce the cost of implementation it is decided to use the existing fibre assets of PSUs (BSNL, Railtel and Power Grid) up to the nearest point and laying incremental fibre beyond this to connect to Gram Panchayats by using GPON technology.By use of the GPON Technology the no.of existing fibres to be utilised is kept to the minimum as more than one GP can be connected by single fibre by way of use of splitters.The network so created will be called as the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN). Once this network is established, any TSP/ISP/MSO can utilise the network to extend their services from block level to panchayat level. As these equipments are installed in GP offices, it can also be utilised to deliver & operate different services/operations carried out by GPs thus enabling the e-governance. This can also be utilised to deliver e-health,e-agriculture, e-commerce etc to the rural mass. Thus the network is to become an enabler and catalyst in the in the delivery of digital services in rural India. So that the benefits of the connectivity is reaped by the rural masses which can also stop the large scale migration of people from rural to urban India.

PROCESS OF NOFN PROJECTThe USO fund of DoT is to fund the capital expenditure and subsidise the operational expenditure to the extent required as this network is not expected to be a revenue generator immediately. A special purpose vehicle namely Bharat Broad band Network Limited (BBNL) has been formed with all the stake holders namely DoT through USOF, BSNL, Railtel & PGCIL having a stake. Presently the BBNL board is having CMD & three Directors namely DIR(Planning),DIR(Operations), DIR(Finance) and it is head quartered at New Delhi. The USOF administrator Smt. Aruna Sundararajan, IAS is having the additional charge of CMD,BBNL. The charge of DIR(Planning) is held by Shri.P.K.Agarwal,ITS, Shri.B.K.Mittal, ITS DIR(Operations), Smt.A. Panda,IAAS DIR(Finance).

QUANTUM OF WORK INVOLVEDThis project is divided in to Phase I and Phase II. Under Phase I: 1.03 Lakh GPs are targeted to be Lit and remaining GPs are planned in Phase II. The Phase I is envisaged to be implemented by three different EA’s (BSNL, Railtel & PGCIL).The materials like cable & accessories and GPON equipment are to be procured

by BBNL and EAs procuring HDPE pipes and its accessories. The initial survey work done by EAs was to be approved by BBNL allowing the EAs to float tender for the execution/procurement. The technical sanction final was to be issued by BBNL after receiving the final survey report allowing the EAs to start the physical work/procurements. The turn key project tender to supply, install and commission the GPON network was awarded to M/s.UTL.The technology provider to this equipment is C-DoT.

PRESENT STATUS OF NOFN PROJECT IN KARNATAKAInitially BSNL Karnataka circle has started the trenching and pipe/cable laying with their available stock materials

and diversion from inter circles of BSNL. The BBNL HQ has floated tender to procure OFC & accessories from various vendors, in which for Karnataka around 12000 KMs has been ordered and the same is delivered to the respective consignees. The GPON equipment out of the total requirement of 5807 ONTs and 500 OLTs. The tender for trenching and laying work has been completed fully for 175 blocks and in one block tender is pending partially. As on 15.09.2015 Out of 11689

KM of trenching length Pipe/cable to be laid/blown, 8639 KMs of pipe has been laid and 8051 KMs of OF Cable has been blown. Out of the total available 30 revenue districts in five districts namely Bengaluru Urban,

Ont, Battery & Pon Splitter and Olt

Solar Pannel

In more than 500 GPs FTTH connections have been taken by grampanchayats for their use. As a part of NII 2.0 pilot project of Deity under MOC Mysore has been selected as a pilot district to connect all Central and State Government Offices to the state data centre using NOFN Network.



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OLT Location – K M Doddi Inspection of Trenching work –Yathambadi GP

Mandya, Hassan, Chamrajanagar and Mysore more than 95% of work has been completed. In effect for a total of 4179 GPs pipe has been laid and for 3759 GPs cable has been blown.

In case of GPON equipment 153 OLTs have been integrated out of a total of 476 supplied, all the OLTs in the five districts namely Bengaluru Urban, Mandya, Hassan, Chamrajanagar and Mysore have been completed. In the case of GP premises equipment (ONT) a total of 1676 have been lit.

In more than 500 GPs FTTH connections have been taken by grampanchayats for their use. As a part of NII 2.0 pilot project of Deity under MOC Mysore has been

selected as a pilot district to connect all Central and State Government Offices to the state data centre using NOFN Network.

NMS & NOC is being developed by C-DoT and presently Test Bed NOC is working at C-DoT campus, Bengaluru is used to monitor, operation and maintenance of the lit GPs from all over India. The RDPR department of Karnataka has issued a circular directing GPs to apply for FTTH plans where ever GPs are lit.

CONCLUSIONBest efforts are made to lit all the GPs wherever the work has been completed successfully.

* ITU has established the overall roadmap for the development of 5G mobile and defined the term “IMT-2020” for 5G as an extension of the ITU’s existing family of global standards IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced which serve as the basis for all of today’s 3G and 4G mobile systems.

* ITU has established a new ITU-T Study Group titled “ITU-T Study Group 20: IoT and its applications, including smart cities and communities” to address the standardization requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, with an initial focus on IoT applications in smart cities. The deployment of IoT technologies is expected to connect an estimated 50 billion devices to the network by year 2020, impacting nearly every aspect of our daily lives. The new ITU-T Study Group provides the specialized IoT standardization platform necessary for this convergence to rest on a cohesive set of international standards.


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NOFN, PuducherryN.Hari Babu, CGM (Projects-II), V.Gunasekhar CGM (Projects-I), K.P. Mohan Sr.GM (Projects), V. Gunasekharan, IFA (SZ) TN, Chennai.

The Union Territory of Puducherry comprises the former French Establishments of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam, which lie scattered in South India. Puducherry, the capital of the Territory was once the original headquarters of the French in India, is situated on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. Puducherry is a peaceful city. It is referred by names such as ‘Quintessence of French Culture’, ‘India’s Little France’ and ‘The French Riviera of the East’. The Union Territory with legislature extends over an area of 479 Sq. Kms. Total population of the Union Territory is 12,44,464, with a literacy rate of 86.55, as per 2011 Census.

BBNL, Tamilnadu has commissioned the NOFN Network in Puducherry UT on 01st July 2015 as part of Digital India Week. This connectivity will facilitate delivery of citizen-centric services on real time basis at a faster speed.

The National Optical Fibre Network was conceptualized by the Government of India in the year 2012. The Project is funded from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) at a cost of about 20,000 crores connecting 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats spread across the entire country. Govt. of India has formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), viz., Bharat Broadband Network Limited under the Ministry of Communication and IT to execute the Project.

As part of this Project, in Puducherry UT, all 98 Gram Panchayats spread across 3 Blocks namely Villianur,Ariyankuppam and Karaikal are connected with High speed Rural Broadband Network on Optical Fiber Cable links (OFC) at a cost of about Rs.3.5 crores. (see table)

BENEFITS OF NOFN AT GPNOFN Infrastructure created with the aim of providing bandwidth capacity up to 100 Mbps at each GP for State e-Governance.

PUDUCHERRY

TAMIL NADU

District Name

Total no of Blocks

Total no of GPs

Incremental cable length

Existing Cable length

Pondicherry 2 71 64.499 332.099

Karaikal 1 27 27.226 123.147

Total 3 98 91.725 455.246



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NOFN infrastructure shall be offered to Service Providers at affordable prices enabling them to have a viable business case for delivery of various digital services to rural masses. This will lead to

Empowerment of rural citizen through access to information, public Services including education, health, NOFN Eqpt @ CSC, Madagadipet agriculture, schemes of rural development & Panchayats & financial services.

Management & monitoring of various government schemes, power distribution, irrigation management & transportation.

COMMON SERVICE CENTRESPuducherry Govt is delivering the Citizen centric services through franchisee operated Common Service

Centres majority of them located in urban areas. On commissioning of National Optical Fibre Network in all 98 Gram Panchayats spread across the entire Union Territory, the Govt is in a position to promote operation of more such Common Service Centres from Gram Panchayat locations thereby delivering the Govt Services at the doorsteps of Citizens. This has facilitated the citizens to avail the Govt Services with minimum travel and time thereby saving huge expenditure by the Citizens.

G2C SERVICES1. PAN Card Services, 2. Aadhaar Services, 3. Election Services, 4. Passport Services, 5. PFRDA (NPS Lite)CSC @ Madagadipet.

BUSINESS TO CONSUMER (B2C)1. Mobile Recharge & Data Card Recharge, 2. Mobile Bill Payment, 3. DTH Recharge, 4. Money Transfer, 5. CSC Bazaar, 6. Life & General Motor TP Insurance, 7. RED Bus Booking / India Bus, 8. IRCTC Ticket Booking 9. Brilliant Tutorials, 10. M-kisan, 11. CSC TravelCSC @ Ariankuppam East


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Photo Gallery

Digital India Week

FTTH Conference

Launch of Digital India Week inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi live via video conferencing

Video Conferencing with BBNL CO New Delhi (left), Dayalpur (top) and Tigaon (right)

Video conferencing with experts – BBNL CO (top left), Dayalpur (bottom right) & other locations

Nayab Tehsildar, Sarpanch and others watching the launch of Digital India Week inauguration

CSC demonstrating issue of caste certificate

Demo of m-Kisan portal of Government of India

The Indian Delegation 10th Annual FTTH council Asia Pacific conference & Expo 2015, Jakarta



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NOFN Pilot Project Parwada NOFN’s Model roll-out,VisakhapatnamS. Sridar, GM, O&M, South Zone, Hyderabad

Parwada block (with 15 gram panchayats), approximately 40 kms from Visakhapatnam,

in Andhra Pradesh, is one of three pilot

sites chosen for NOFN pilots.

For evaluating the technology, service delivery, maintenance aspects and for identifying the overall contours of the NOFN implementation strategy BBNL has decided to execute three pilot projects in the country with the three SPV partners viz. BSNL, PGCIL and Railtel. PGCIL, which was allotted NOFN execution work in combined Andhra Pradesh state, has selected Parawada block with 15 Gram Panchayats (GP) as the project site which is closer to their eastern grid base. This pilot site is approximately 40 kms from Visakhapatnam. This project has been put into operation from December 2012.

S. Sridar, GM, O&M, South Zone, Hyderabad


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Centre for Development of Telematics’s (CDOT) Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) Technology has been utilised for rolling out the network. GPON OLT is installed in BSNL’s Telephone exchange. BSNL’s existing fibre is used and the incremental OF cable is laid by PGCIL. For connecting three Panchayats PGCIL has used its own 11 kms overhead OPGW cable also. Department of Electronics & IT (DEITY), GOI has provided all the IT equipment (Computers, Printers, UPS, Gen sets) in all the Panchayats.

Common service centres (CSC) are also commenced as part of this project and are supported by DEITY. IT equipment is provided by them for these CSCs (also known as Digital Knowledge Centres - DKC) also which provide G2C services. Most of these DKCs are collocated with the GP offices. These DKCs are run by the franchisees who have deposited a minimum amount with NIC/Govt of AP. Except in two locations (E.Bonangi, Rawada), in the 13 GPs DKCs are launched. Broadband Wireless Terminal (BBWT)

equipment is used to connect the Horizontal sites. This equipment is also supplied by CDOT. Wherever the Horizontal sites are near the ONT, these sites are connected on wireline. In two horizontal locations, viz. Wada cheepurupalli PHC and Rawada High school, due line of sight problem, OF cable is laid and ONTs are installed for extending the services. In Parawada Mandal office also ONT is installed. Thus there are 18 ONTs in this project.

One Gb/s bandwidth connectivity is provided by BSNL between GPON equipment at Mandal and NIC POP at Visakhapatnam. NIC has been extending the internet through this pipe. DEITY has funded the one Gb/s connectivity in addition to the IT infrastructure. A Minimum of 50 Mb/s NIC’s bandwidth is provided using this 1 Gb/s connectivity in each Panchayat. They have also employed the computer operators at all the Panchayats. The DKC operators are also supported by DEITY. The support for the project is extended after the first year of operation.

BBNL has received NLDO license on 1st April 2013. BBNL has also been granted ISP Category “A” License (All India) from DoT on 29th December 2014.

SERVICES

G2G servicesG2G services are launched in all the 15 Panchayats. These Panchayats are using a software called as PRIASoft (Panchayat Raj Institutions Accounting Software) in which the Panchayats are entering all their accounts, all types of funds, expenditure, 13th finance fund, 14th finance fund data are recorded. In addition, the Panchayat is maintaining National Informatics Dairy.

There are a number of other softwares such as Action soft, Unified Birth and Death (UBD) software, National Panchayat Portal (NPP), Asset directory are also being used by these Panchayats. In Parwada Mandal, the Panchayat secretary’s signature is digitized and hence the operations on the software has become essential for the Mandal. All the operations such as registering birth and deaths in Panchayat etc the operators have been carrying out them at the computer terminals. All the certificates are being issued online in this mandal. Video conference can be done among any of the Panchayats including all the Panchayats in other two Pilot projects also. VC equipment and software are provided with IT infrastructure itself by DEITY.

G2C servicesG2C services are launched in 13 panchayats and delivered using the Digital Knowledge Centres. Adhaar card issue, Birth and death certificates etc are issued



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by them. All Mee-Seva services (Govt of AP’s G2C services) are extended by the DKC. There are 104 services that are extended to Panchayat public.

Telemedicine serviceTelemedicine service has been launched in the Public health Centre in Wada cheepurupalli Panchayat. The King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam is supporting the services in the PHC. Telemedicine service was also launched in DKCs which were popular when the services were extended free of cost. Consultation fee has been charged later and this service did not attract the rural public and these services are discontinued now.

Telecom Service ProvidersBSNL has been maintaining the BBWT Horizontal services to approximately 30 sites over which NIC has been extending the Broadband internet and intranet facilities to these customers. M/s Reliance communications has endeavoured to provide Wi-Max services in P.Bonangi Panchayat. However, the services are not launched by them so far. Interest has been evinced by operators such as uninor but no TSP has availed the NOFN services in Parawada.

FUTURE SERVICESBroadband Service to General publicAt present the broadband internet connectivity is provided to all the Horizontals by NIC. Thus the internet service is limited to GP office only. It

is suggested to provide the broadband services using BSNL’s infrastructure to general public also. A proposal has been made to Visakhapatnam BSNL SSA to deploy their internet services in Panchayats either using their FTTH or DSLAMs.

Wi-Fi ServiceA good number of Panchayat public are having smart mobile phones who are requesting for enabling the wi-fi service. The ONTs are having wi-fi provision with a very limited premises coverage. Even this service can be extended to general public for popularising the NOFN services.

Dark fibre serviceA good amount of OF cable (25 Kms) is laid in Parawada. Very few number of fibres are being used in these cables. A proposal has already been given to Visakha BSNL SSA for utilising these dark fibres for extending their BTSs or for any other network purpose. A compulsory utilisation agreement with BSNL can avoid duplicate infrastructure cost for Govt. These fibres can also be provided to any other Telecom service provider and by fixing the tariff at the earliest. The Multi System Operators (MSO) may also hire the dark fibre to run the cable TV services.

More HorizontalsAPEPDCL and TSEPDCL (the electricity distribution companies in AP and Telangana) have

Parwada GP Secretary office with ONT

GP office using NOFN, Video Conference in progress

GP operator using NOFN

Bharanikam operator in VC with five other GPs


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Upload and Download speeds at Naidupalem GP Digital India celebration in Parawada Panchayat office.E-Locker facility is being explained by Mee-seva Operator to High school children

come forward to utilise the NOFN. Under Deen Dayal Gram Jyothi Yojana (DDGJY) the ministry of power is planning to lay OF cable links from NOFN and get the ONTs installed in their 33/11KV substations across country. Many other ministries can be pursued and the real benefits of NOFN can be first extended to Government and rural public.

Banking ConsultantState Bank of India has selected some of the DKCs in Parawada for extending their banking services for increasing the financial inclusion of rural public. These services are about to be launched. These services can be launched across country so that the Govt of India’s financial inclusion program gets a thorough boost.

HMRIThe Health and Management research institute ( An NGO) is providing free medical services (maternal) to pregnant tribal women living in remote villages in places such as Araku, Visakhapatnam, Indervelli, Adilabad and in many other places across country. They have been seeking 2 Mb/s internet bandwidth to these remote villages from BBNL. Similar organisations (LV Prasad Eye hospital) and other NGOs are working in the remote corners of the country are likely to use the NOFN instantly.

By exploiting the full potential of NOFN the rural and urban fabric can be spliced. Adopting the above services NOFN’s utility can be increased manifold.

FTTH Councils celebrate Gimme Fiber Day every year on November 4th, to showcase how fiber has positively impacted communities across the world and what policymakers around the globe can do to help advance the roll-out and

take-up of fiber optics.The birthday date of the man who changed the way the world communicates, Professor Charles Kao.

Charles Kuen Kao, (born on 4th November 1933), known as the “Godfather of Broadband”, “Father of Fiber Optics” or “Father of Fiber Optic Communications”, pioneered in the

development and use of fiber optics in telecommunications. Kao was jointly awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for “groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication”.

GIMME FIBER DAY


F R O M O U R Z O N A L H E A DCentral zone

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MADHYA PRADESH

CHATTISGARH


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Digital India week celebration in Purandih, Chhatisgarh


C E L E B R A T I O N S

42

DIGITAL INDIA WEEK

The Digital India Week, a mega event planned for national launch of the Digital India programme and comprising of awareness and communication events was celebrated nation-wide from 1st July, 2015 to 7th July, 2015 with the following objectives: • To inform, educate and engage with citizens

through organization of events at large number of Digital Points of Presence such as CSCs/ Post Offices, Schools, Gram Panchayats etc

• To connect all citizens through Digital Media campaigns and events

• To inform all about the vision, services and benefits of the Program

• To popularise and expand the reach of existing e-services, plan and launch new services

• To educate citizens on functional digital literacy, cyber security, cyber hygiene, ensure

better utilization of Digital infrastructure during the DI Week and beyond

• To incentivize, motivate and connect citizens with the Digital India Program.

Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) organized events in 30 Gram Panchayats (GPs) across 12 States and UTs. Various e-services like e-education, e-health, e-governance etc and Internet services were demonstrated to people and officials at Gram Panchayats using BharatNet. Interaction with people was carried out through Video conferencing conducted between GPs and BBNL HQ at New Delhi. An awareness campaign was run to educate people at these places by distributing pamphlets in local languages, conducting quiz and interacting with them. Week-long activities were conducted by BBNL in accordance with a detailed day-by-day calendar for demonstration of various services.

e-GOVERNANCE 3rd July, 2015e-Governance services like online Birth certificates, Caste certificate, Ration card, Land records etc. were demonstrated in collaboration with state government. Shri Pravin R Chandekar, Scientist-G / Director in-charge of CSCs & e-Districts froam DeitY was invited at BBNL HQ to interact with rural population in GPs through Video conference.

1st July to 7th July, 2015



P A R T I C I P A T I O N S

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E-EDUCATION 4th July, 2015A programme on e-Education was organised at Mahigaon and Teusa Gram Panchayats in the Kishanganj District of Bihar. At both the GPs, video conference between various GPs available online were made. About 25 school children were present at Mahigaon.

E-HEALTH 3rd July, 2015A session on e-Health was conducted by Dr. Samir Parekh, expert in Mental Health & Behavioral and Dr. Surinder Katoch, expert in Holistic Health. They deliveread a talk to the villagers present at the Gram Panchayats in Mehsana (Gujarat), Dariya (Chandigarh), Noida (UP), Faridabad (Haryana), Indore(MP) and Ajmer (Rajasthan) through video conferencing clarifying the queries of the villagers related to their food habits, lifestyle and how to reduce the day to day stress.

E-COMMERCE 5 July, 2015Officials from Canara Bank were invited at BBNL for interaction with villagers at GPs regarding online shopping, Railway reservation, Hotel booking, Trading, Banking etc. which can be performed using high speed broadband connections.

E-AGRICULTURE 7th July, 2015Dr. K.K. Singh, expert from India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Dr. R. K. Tripathi, expert from Agriculture Ministry were invited to discuss and resolve the queries of farmers with regard to weather forecasting, new policy initiative of the government and availability of latest technology in agriculture sector.



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P A R T I C I P A T I O N S

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VGGTS 15

11th National Summit e-Governance & Digital India

10th Annual FTTH Council Asia Pacific Conference & Expo 2015

The Vibrant Gujarat is an International Trade Show and a Global Business Summit being held every two year since 2003. This year 7th Vibrant Gujarat Global Trade (VGGTS 15) was held from 8th to 13th January at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. More than 2000 companies from 25 sectors, with more than 10,000 delegates (including international representations from 101 countries) participated in the exhibition spread over 1,25,000 sq. meter. Total visitors in trade show were more than 15.2 Lacs (as per reports).Bharat Broad Band Nigam Limited, while show-casing National Optical Fiber Network project of DoT, Government of India with theme “NOFN- Vehicle for realizing Digital India” , participated in VGGTS_15.

ASSOCHAM along with the “Official Support” of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship & Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India has organized the 11th National summit on e-Governance & Digital India on 10th September, 2015 at New-Delhi. During the summit it was emphasized that Digital governance has moved beyond government departments just having a portal. It is no longer confined to merely streamlining and automating processes. It is about transforming the way governments work and reinventing people’s participation in the democratic process.

INCLUSIVE GROWTH THROUGH DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT

10th Annual FTTH Council Asia Pacific Conference & Expo 2015 held at Jakarta was attended by CMD ,Dir (P) and CGM (WT) BBNL from 19th to 21st May 2015. A power point presentation was made by Dir (P) Sh. PK Agarwal on Day One ,titled “India National Optical Fibre Network –Deployment Challenges ”. CMD, BBNL Ms. Aruna Sundararajan delivered her keynote address on Day Two, titled “India –The big picture”.Later ,in the Annual General Body Meeting of FTTH Council Asia Pacific in Jakarta on 22nd May 2015, Dir (P), BBNL Sh. PK Agarwal was elected as a Director in the Council Board.

..... Back to Contents..... Back to Contents

I N I T I A T I V E S

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Initiatives on the HR front

Initiatives on the IT front

To carry out the challenging work assigned to BBNL, several officers of ITS group - A service and P&T Accounts service were brought on deputation basis to start the company. Currently 98 technical officers from engineering side & 15 from finance side are working in BBNL on deputation basis.

Two full time officers were subsequently brought on board namely Company Secretary & head legal and Deputy Company Secretary.

Process is on to take fresh graduate engineers at the post of Assistant Manager. Interviews have already been completed and result of the interviews is to be declared shortly.

BBNL is also engaging Consultants through NISG and NICSI on a contractual basis .

BBNL has also taken some retired officers from DOT/ BSNL/ MTNL against the vacant post of managers on 6 months contract basis.

TRAININGBBNL has been structured as a lean & flat organization. It is It is very important to impart appropriate training to all the

personal to enable them to perform to their best level. 60 technical officers attended the training program at IIM Ahmedabad in two batches (5 day program).45 technical & finance officers attended the Training on Sales Tax, Service Tax, Entry Tax etc. at NATFM, Hyderabad.In addition to above , training programs were also organized on the following : i) NOFN NMS application at C-DOT, Bengaluru.ii) Workshop on optical Fiber Communicationiii) Project Management Skills.iv) Management of Contract Labor.

IT INITIATIVES IN BBNL1. BBNL IT Policy was notified

in May 2014 after approval of the Directors of Board of BBNL.

2. Network Management System: For centralized monitoring, management and configuration of NOFN network, a Network Management system (NMS) is under development by C-DoT. Initial version of NMS is already working on test-bed system in C-DOT Bengaluru. Hardware for production system has been ordered by C-DOT and the system is likely to be implemented by year-end.

3. BBNL website: To disseminate the information and bring transparency, BBNL has hosted its website on url http://www.bbnl.nic.in since Dec, 2012. The website is bilingual i.e. available both in English and Hindi and being updated regularly. The website is fully GIGW compliant as per Govt. of India guidelines and meets all the prescribed security standards. BBNL website provides brief information about BBNL, BBNL Projects, tenders, media gallery, RTI, various

reports and other statutory documents etc. A new website for BBNL with a new look and feel along with new features has been developed and likely to be launched shortly.4. BBNL Intranet: To improve the internal communications in BBNL and to promote paperless working, BBNL has developed an Intranet portal for BBNL which is available at http:/ http://117.247.83.83/. The portal has been developed and maintained in-

house. Intranet contains Officers’ Directory, Circulars / letters issued in BBNL, policy related documents, various forms & presentations, project status report, photographs etc.

5. Data Center: To host the various IT systems, BBNL has hired the managed data center in Bengaluru through tender. A captive BBNL Data center is under construction in Shastri- Park, New Delhi through NBCC.

6. Project Management Tool: BBNL has implemented a project management tool ‘Primavera’ for monitoring the various projects in BBNL.


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As per Accounting Standards 1, a company is to disclose the significant accounting policies as a part of the annual report. To this end, significant accounting policies are reviewed every year by BBNL. This process has been smoothly conducted on a yearly basis. General Ledger Codes (Heads of Account) has been created for preparation of Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Account as per the Companies Act. Elaborate accounting instructions/ guidelines have been issued through a number of circulars.

Formats/ Registers for Fixed Asset, Inventory, Stock, Advances, Imprest, Receipts and Cenvat credit etc. have been designed so as to record details of financial transactions. Various provisions of the Companies Act 2013 have been implemented by BBNL. The accounting framework has been prepared in-house.

Compilation of annual accounts is a challenge for a new company. BBNL has successfully prepared annual financial statements and placed them before the Annual General Meeting well in time. Owing to proactive action by BBNL, audit qualifications from Comptroller and Auditor General has been reduced.

Capitalisation of fixed assets has been an on-going process. Pilot projects implemented by BBNL have been capitalised to the extent of received details of the projects. As a part of an on-going exercise and due to the introduction of Companies Act 2013 effective from 1

April 2014, certain significant accounting policies were either modified or adopted. Some of

these are:(i) Depreciation was earlier provided for based on the Written Down

Value method at rates prescribed in Schedule XIV to the Companies Act 1956.

From 2014-15, depreciation in respect of tangible asset is to be provided based on

the Written Down Value method as per useful life prescribed under Part C of Schedule II of

Companies Act 2013 and taking into account 5% value of each item of asset as its residual value.

(ii) Inventories were earlier valued at lower of the cost and net realizable value. The cost was generally ascertained on weighted average method. Inventories procured for creation as well as for repair and maintenance of asset are valued at cost. The cost of inventory is arrived at taking all costs incurred in bringing the inventories to their present location and condition. The obsolete/ non-moving inventories are valued at net realizable value.

(iii) A new policy to account for Government grants has been adopted. Government grants/ subsidy related to depreciable assets are recognized as deferred income in the Balance Sheet. Such deferred income is appropriated in the Profit and Loss Statement over the useful life of the asset created out of such grant/ subsidy i.e. in a financial year an amount of deferred income which is equal to the amount of depreciation of asset in question pertaining to said financial year is credited to Profit and Loss Account.

WI-FI SERVICES IN CHANDIGARH BY NETPLUS BROADBAND & BLUETOWNNetplus Broadband and Bluetown Consortium will be providing Wi-Fi Services using 10 Mbps bandwidth on BharatNet at each of the 12 GPs in Chandigarh; the given rate of Bandwidth is Rs 700/ per Mbps per annum. The survey is going on and order for the equipment is

expected to be placed shortly. The roll-out of services is expected by 31st December, 2015

BRINGING CSCS ON BOARDBBNL and CSC SPV have been working out an arrangement wherein in lieu of taking care of the upkeep, cleanliness and first line maintenance of the

Initiatives on the Finance & Accounts front

Initiatives on the Services’ front


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equipment at the GP by the CSC/VLE, BBNL will reimburse

the charges for Internet connectivity taken by CSC at the GP for delivering CSC services. The CSC will be collocated at GP

for this purpose. The reimbursement shall be made to CSC

SPV centrally by BBNL.

Presently about 40 CSCs in Puducherry are using the FTTH connection taken by BBNL from BSNL (for 6 month period for AT) for delivering their services.

Further after discussion with BBNL, CSC SPV has started building a website ( present url for under construction site is http://health.csc.gov.in/nofn/ but will be renamed http://bharatnet.csc.gov.in after it is ready) where each GP will be mapped to the CSC /VLE present in that GP on 1 to 1 basis. This portal can be utilized by BBNL to coordinate with the CSCs as well as the information may be used by various service providers for planning the launch of their services at GP level. As informed by CSC SPV, the portal is likely to be ready shortly.

BBNL is discussing the type of Internet connectivity to be provided to CSCs and the commercials for it with BSNL based on which the arrangement may be put in place. Earlier, an FTTH connection under 999 unlimited broadband combo plan to be provided to CSC was discussed with BSNL. However, BSNL is now reluctant to offer the same and instead want BBNL to take Internet bandwidth of 10 Mbps from them at every block. The technical & regulatory arrangement and the commercials for the same are expected to be worked out soon.

SYNERGY BETWEEN NII AND BHARATNETNII and BharatNet complement each other as far as delivery of Government services to the end-users at the village level is concerned. In the present scope of work, BBNL is providing the connectivity between Block and GPs. Various network utilization gaps have been identified over a period of time and based on the available mandate, a pilot project has been approved at DeitY for effective utilization of the Network. The NII pilot project will integrate various infrastructures which are already operational in States i.e. SWAN, SDC, NKN and NOFN/BharatNet and is expected to fill the gaps in the connectivity and the requirement of upgradation of the IT infrastructure required for providing high speed connectivity upto GP level. Following seven districts in seven states will be covered under the pilot: I. Trivandrum–KeralaII. Mysore–KarnatakaIII. Anand–GujaratIV. PuducherryV. Haridwar–UttarakhandVI. Chandigarh–PunjabVII. Nagaland–Paren

BBNL is to provide 20 Mbps bandwidth at each GP from the block. DeitY has been informed that connectivity between Block and GPs in Kerala, Puducherry, Chandigarh & Karnataka states have been completed and they may immediately proceed in these States/ UTs. BharatNet at Anand in Gujarat and Haridwar in Uttarakhand is expected to be ready in next 3 to 4 months time whereas connectivity on wireless will be arranged by DeitY itself in Nagaland as BharatNet is not there. 100 Mbps vertical connectivity from BSNL will be taken by DeitY from DHQ to BHQ for which BSNL had to provide the technical feasibility. BBNL intervened to get the feasibility reports from BSNL and the same has been provided with timeline by BSNL to DeitY.

Sl. Office Infra Available Present Connectivity (Not through NOFN)

1 Village Office Anad One Laptop BSNL Broadband2 Anganwadi, Anad NIL NIL3 SNV HSS Anad computers BSNL Broadband4 Govt. Ayurveda Dispensary computer BSNL Broadband5 Veterinary Hospital Nil Nil6 Village Extension Office, Anad Nil nil7 Assistant Engineer, LSGD, Anad Computer BSNL Broadband8 L P School Anad Linux Computers BSNL Broadband9 Akshaya Centre, Anad Bank Jn Computer BSNL Broadband10 PHC Anad Computer BSNL Broadband11 Homeo Dispensary, Anad Computer BSNL Broadband12 Krishi Bhavan, Anad Computer BSNL Broadband13 Govt. LPS Chullimanoor Computer BSNL Broadband14 Electrical Section, KSEB Computer BSNL Broadband15 33 kV substation Chullimanoor Being arranged by KSEB NIL


49

Moreover, it has been learnt that a committee has been constituted at DeitY for the procurement of the equipment required for pilots including 3 computers in each GP.

CONNECTIVITY TO GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS Kerala State Electricity Board has extended the connectivity from the BharatNet fibre terminated at Anad Grama Panchayath Area in Nedumangad Block of Trivandrum District to 15 government institutes using overhead OFC as a pilot project. The institutions connected are as below: ONTs have been installed in all the 15 institutions. For upward connectivity, Nedumangad OLT is connected to Kerala State WAN at DHQ by a 8 Mbps BSNL leased line hired by Kerala State IT Mission. The connectivity has been tested by KSEB at their control locations. FTTH service for the Govt. Institutions using NOFN network is yet to be subscribed by Kerala state Govt. Earlier, FTTH connections subscribed by BBNL for testing were provided in five locations for two months

namely 1. L P School Anad 2. Akshaya Centre, Anad Bank Jn, 3. Krishi Bhavan, Anad 4. PHC Anad and 5. Anganwadi Anad for demonstrating and familiarization of the High Speed Internet for the public & school children and also for Video conferencing carried out during Digital India Week.

STATUS OF SWAN INTEGRATION IN KERALASimilar to the connectivity made through a BSNL 8 Mbps lease line at Nedumagad OLT with KSWAN at Trivandrum DHQ, the following 25 OLT locations are going to be connected with KSWAN at respective DHQs using leased line connectivity from BSNL. As discussed with Kerala PMU, Kerala government has asked BSNL to connect these OLT locations with KSWAN at DHQ. BSNL has given their feasibility and the built up between KSWAN DHQ and the OLTs will be carried out by BSNL based on the priority of Kerala State where the local extension of fibre is completed. The work for all 25 OLTs including installation, testing, configurations at KSWAN-end as well as at OLTs etc is likely to be completed with the month of Oct.15.

LIST OF 25 OLT LOCATIONS TO BE CONNECTED TO KSWAN

Sl No District Block A-End B-End Olt Location/S

BW in Mbps

1 Malappuram Areacode Malappuram DHQ Areakode 8

2 Malappuram Kondotty Malappuram DHQ Kondotty 8

3 Malappuram Mankada Malappuram DHQ Perintalmanna 8

4 Malappuram Nilambur Malappuram DHQ Nilambur 8

5 Malappuram Ponnani Malappuram DHQ Thavannur 8

6 Malappuram Tirur Malappuram DHQ Tirur 8

7 Malappuram Tirurangadi Malappuram DHQ Tirurangadi 8

8 Malappuram Vengara Malappuram Dhq Vengara 8

9 Malappuram Wandoor Malappuram DHQ Wandoor 8

10 Kannur Edakkad Kannur DHQ Chowa 8

11 Kannur Edakkad Kannur DHQ Taliparamba 24

12 Kannur Payyannur Kannur DHQ Payannur 8

13 Kannur Peravoor Kannur DHQ Peravoor 8

14 Kannur Thalasseri Kannur DHQ Talasseri 24

15 Kasaragod Kanhangad Kasaragod DHQ Kanhangad 8

16 Kasaragod Nileswar Kasaragod DHQ Cheruvathur 8

17 Kollam Chadayamangalam Kollam DHQ Chadayaman-galam 16

18 Kollam Chavara Kollam DHQ Chavara 8

19 Kollam Kottarakkara Kollam DHQ Kottarakkara 8

20 Kollam Mukhathala Kollam DHQ Chathannur 8

21 Kollam Sasthamcotta Kollam DHQ Sasthamkotta 8

22 Thiruvananthapuram Nedumangad Thiruvananthapuram DHQ Nedumangad 8

23 Thiruvananthapuram Parassala Thiruvananthapuram DHQ Poovar 8

24 Thiruvananthapuram Perumkadavila Thiruvananthapuram DHQ Perunkadavila 8

25 Thiruvananthapuram Vamanapuram Thiruvananthapuram DHQ Venjaramoodu 8


S P E C I A L C O N T R I B U T I O N

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After the formation of BBNL there was a need to develop BBNL intranet for information circulation amongst all its officers and employees.

TECHNICAL DETAILS Website of BBNL intranet is hosted in a desktop. BBNL intranet not only lists all the circulars issued by various sections on a day to day basis but also other features such as dashboard, utilities, various google spreadsheet reports etc. This website is hosted in a web-server operated with Linux server edition. PHP and Mysql are used as main components for the development of website.

All the coding of website is done in HTML and PHP. HTML is a computer language devised to allow website creation. These websites can then be viewed by anyone connected to the Internet. HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language and is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. What distinguishes PHP from something like client-side JavaScript is that the code is executed on the server, generating HTML

BBNL IntranetComplete inhouse design, development and maintenance

Sh. Manish Rathore, a 1998 batch ITS officer, presently working as GM (Project)in Baroda unit of BBNL volunteered to develop the Intranet for BBNL and till this day he has been manning it single handedly for BBNL.

Sh. Manish Rathore is an Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer from G.E.C Jabalpur with M.Tech degree from I.I.T Bombay in Microelectronics and M.B.A in Marketing from SMU.

After joining the Department of Telecommunications in 2000, he has worked in various fields such as Telecom Switch installation and maintenance, O&M of CDMA equipment and has developed SMS based online complaint booking & rectification system for CDMA & WiMAX networks, CDMAsoft system for handling all commercial aspects of WLL/NIC/EVDO and various internet based CDMA WIN reports.


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which is then sent to the client. The client would receive the results of running that script, but would never know the underlying code. Web server can be configured to process all the HTML files with PHP so that users would not able to view any codes. Mysql is used as the database for storing all the data in the form of tables. Relevant data is extracted using queries in PHP whenever user clicks on the links in website. The data is displayed in the browser.

Network diagram of connectivity is shown in figure 1. Web server is connected to internet through BSNL FTTH connection which has a bandwidth of 20 Mbps. The web server has been configured with a static IP. Users can access BBNL intranet using this static IP. 2. APPLICATIONS

2.1 CircularsAt present the webserver is used to host BBNL intranet website. BBNL corporate office uploads the circulars on the website and the officers posted in field can view these circulars. Screenshot of homepage is shown in figure 2.

2.2 DashboardIn Dashboard link various graphs have been generated to monitor the progress made. One such bar graph is circle wise Pipe laid and OFC pulled. The data has been

taken from google spreadsheets and the graphs have also been generated using google spreadsheets. Figure 3 shows the bar graph present in dashboard. 2.3 SpeedtestUsers can test the upload and download speed of their broadband connection using Speedtest link. Development of New applications has been kept in whatsnew link.

2.4 Bill trackingAll the bills from BBNL field units are sent to BBNL Corporate Office through post. There is a provision in the website by which field units can enter the details of the bills sent to Corporate Office. After receiving the bills, account person processes the bill for payment and can enter the payment details against the entry made by field units. In this way field units can track their bills online.

2.5 Photo uploadField units can upload the photograph of works being done in field units using Photos link. These photos can be viewed by all the officers in BBNL.

2.6 Survey data uploadData related to technical sanction (final) can also be ported in the server directly from the spreadsheet survey sheet. Various reports have been generated with respect to this data.

Figure 2: Screenshot of homepage

Figure 3: Circle wise bar graph

Figure 1: Network diagram


M E M B E R S H I P S

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FTTH APAC Council

Founded in March 2005, the Asia Pacific Council works to create a cohesive group

to share knowledge and build industry consensus on key issues surrounding fiber to the home.

BBNL is a Platinum member of the Council since 2013.

NEWS FROM FTTH COUNCILAsia Pacific region has achieved in Nov. 2014 the historic milestone of 100 million FTTH customers in the region and the focus of the FTTH APAC Council would be how to reach the next 100 million milestone.

Asia pacific region is seen to be having maximum disparity; while four countries of the region (South Korea, Hongkong, Japan, Singapore) figure in the Top 10 Global Economies with the highest penetration of fibre, there are many countries which are yet to make a beginning in this area.

UAE, has the highest penetration of FTTH in the world with a rate of 70% FTTH subscribers /homes passed and with 97% of the land in Dubai being covered by fibre.

While there is no doubt that FTTH solutions are the only future proof answer to growing broadband requirements it is also an undeniable fact that building fiber networks requires big infrastructure investment. Reducing the deployment cost by adopting innovative techniques/alternative deployment methods can improve the FTTH business case which will help to speed up the roll out of FTTH.

INFRASTRUCTURE SHARING The use of existing infrastructure is often considered as one way of reducing the scope of civil works and there are a few options available. The first is to share the duct and pole infrastructure of the incumbent telecom operator. In France the regulatory authority has defined rules for duct sharing and the access process was agreed in 2008. It is estimated that around 2.5 billion Euros was saved over 5 years by eliminating civil works for new cables in France and similar savings could be made in the coming five years.

UTILISING EXISTING UTILITIESResidential gas pipes, sewer pipes and water pipes offer the possibility of innovative infrastructure sharing, both in the feeder part of the network and in the final drop to homes. However installing cables in water or gas pipes requires co-operation from utility companies and this may not always be guaranteed.

There are 5 FTTH Regional Councils namely FTTH Council Africa,

Americas, LATAM, Europe, Middle East and North America (MENA), Asia Pacific. These are independent councils in their specific market with a regional focus. The FTTH Council Global Alliance is the platform for cooperation amongst the five Regional Councils which have a common goal: the acceleration of fibre to the home adoption.

.

http://www.ftthcouncilap.org/

The Light Age" is published by the FTTH Council, Europe

Director (P) addressing the gathering at the 10th Annual FTTH council Asia Pacific conference & Expo 2015, Jakarta

The Indian Delegation at the FTTH conference & Expo 2015, Jakarta


http://www.ftthcouncilap.org

http://www.ftthcouncilap.org

http://www.ftthcouncilap.org/

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ITUITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs with headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland. ITU allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develops the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect and strive to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide. ITU is unique among UN agencies in having both public and private sector membership. In addition

to 193 Member States, ITU membership includes over 700 Sector Members, Associates and Academia. ITU is organized into 3 sectors of activities - ITU-R : Radio communication- ITU-T : Standardisation - ITU-D : Development

BBNL has acquired the Sector membership of ITU D in September 2015. The objective of ITU-D is to help spread equitable, sustainable and affordable access to ICT as a means of stimulating broader social and economic development. As Sector member of ITU-D, BBNL will become eligible to participate in all ITU-D activities including 2 ITU-D Study Groups with 2 National Working Groups (NWGs) within the scope of these 2 ITU-D Study Groups.

TM ForumTM Forum is a non-profit global industry association which helps its members transform and succeed in the digital economy.With the collective experience and interests of their member community comprised of more than 85,000 experts from 900+ global enterprises, service providers and technology suppliers ,the Forum provides hands-on collaboration programs and communities; thought-provoking research and publications; tools, best practices, and standards such as TM Forum Frameworx™; conferences and workshops; and training for business and IT leaders to guide digital transformation .

Through three key programs - Agile Business and IT, Open Digital Ecosystem, and Customer Engagement – it provides a platform for its members to connect and collaborate with individuals and groups from around the world to solve key challenges and rapidly innovate to deliver new services, improve business agility, partner for

success, reduce cost and risk, and enhance customer value and loyalty. These programs focus on a wide range of pressing digital industry topics – NFV/SDN, Internet of Things (IoT), customer engagement, data analytics, and security and privacy to name a few – to address the challenges of digital business transformation and enable the members to innovate faster, better, and more effectively.

Bringing together over 100 leading companies from around the world, TM Forum has created the ZOOM program – Zero-touch Orchestration, Operations and Management – to develop Virtualization and NFV & SDN best practices and standards in order to create a living blueprint for a new generation of service provider support systems to deliver true business agility and new digital services and revenue opportunities.

BBNL is a member of TM Forum since 2014.

One can register to begin exploring the benefits of your membership by visiting the site at www.tmforum.org.TM Forum’s annual magazine Perspectives, is an annual deep dive into the global issues and challenges that the members and other companies face as they

work to build and connect the digital ecosystem. For getting the latest news, views, research and case studies, and connecting with thousands of professionals tackling similar challenges as you visit the site at inform.tmforum.org


http://www.itu.int

http://www.tmforum.org

M E M B E R S H I P S

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Historical Timeline of ITU

1865

ITU IS BORNIn 1865, twenty European States signed a treaty to harmonize telegraph services. This was the origin of ITU.

1866 ACROSS AN OCEANThe first permanent telegraph line was established in 1866, joining Europe to North America.

1876SPEAKING BY WIREThe next leap forward in communications occurred with the patenting of the telephone in 1876 enabling people to speak directly to each other over long distances.

1885ITU INCLUDES THE TELEPHONE ITU began to draw up international regulations governing telephony for the first time. In 1885, around 100 million calls were made within ITU member countries.

1895PRACTICAL RADIO SYSTEMSIn the 1890s, two men Popov and Marconi- at just about the same time and using similar systems - developed transmitters to provide the first radio communications.

1900VOICES OVER THE AIROn 23 December 1900, Alfred Thiessen heard the following words: ‘Hello test, one two, three, four. Is it snowing where

you are Mr. Thiessen? If it is telegraph back and let me know.’The message had been sent by Canadian inventor, Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, to Thiessen his assistant, by means of what was then called wireless telephony. It was the first time that speech had ever been transmitted by radio, and led to the start of the broadcasting era.

1925TELEVISION ON THE SCENEAfter its first demonstration in London in 1925, the new technology captured the public imagination. Following a move to electronic systems in the 1930s, modern television was born.

1927ITU TAKES SHAPEAn International Radio Consultative Committee was established for coordination of technical studies in all fields of telecommunications, as well as the drawing up of international standards and the monitoring of how radio-frequency spectrum was used.

1932NEW NAME FOR ITUIn Madrid, an International Telegraph Conference and an International Radiotelegraph Conference met simultaneously and decided to merge into a single entity and - reflecting its mission for all communication technologies -- to give ITU the modern name that it still has today.

1947ITU IN THE UNITED NATIONS FAMILYThe Second World War caused immense destruction to lives, homes and societies’ infrastructure - including

telecommunications. A healing process was started with the foundation of the United Nations in 1945. Two years later, an ITU conference in Atlantic City, United States, voted for the Union to become part of the UN family.

1957DAWN OF THE SPACE AGEHumanity’s journey beyond Earth began with the launch of a small satellite called Sputnik in 1957.

1964THE GEOSTATIONARY RESOURCEOne of ITU’s most important responsibilities is to monitor the use of a limited natural resource: the geostationary orbit around Earth. It is used today by hundreds of satellites, observing the planet and carrying communications worldwide.

1968THE FAXITU approved the first international standards for the modern version of the technology, significantly spurring its growth.

1969INTERNET ORIGINSInternet originated in 1969.

1971TELECOM WORLDAs an industry showcase and high-level forum, ITU Telecom World began in 1971 in Geneva. Since then it has been held regularly, at venues around the world.

ITU ( earlier known as CCITT), established on 17th may, 1865 is celebrating 150 years of its existence


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1973WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SOCIETY DAYOn 17 May 1865, the first International Telegraph Convention was signed in Paris. Since 1973, there has been an formal celebration each year of that important day and ITU’s origin. A topical theme is chosen, and events take place around the world.

1982BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDEThe need to support the expansion of telecommunications to people everywhere has long been recognized by ITU. From the early 1980s, efforts were stepped up towards that goal, following publication of the landmark report The Missing Link.

1984GOING DIGITALIn 1984, work began on digital telephony, leading to ITU standards for the fibre-optic networks of the future.

1990-

THE WORLD WIDE WEBThe code for the World Wide Web was made freely available to all in 1990. The Internet, and the multitude of applications it carries - including the Web - has become a fundamental aspect of infrastructure, economic and social life, around the world.

1992ITU’S SECTORS APPEARThe Additional Plenipotentiary Conference held in Geneva in 1992 closed on 22 December. ITU’s new structure was organized into three sectors, dealing with development, standardization and radio communication. In his closing address ITU Secretary General Pekka Tarjanne said that this Conference was the first step in the ITU reform process, “the beginning of the beginning”

2000MOBILE PHONES GO GLOBALThe device that has perhaps done most to connect people in modern times is

the mobile phone – and ITU has been at the heart of its spectacular progress. In 2000, a decision reached at an ITU conference meant that previously incompatible mobile communication systems could be linked worldwide for the first time. And it laid the foundation for today’s high-speed wireless devices connected to the Internet.

2003WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETYThe World Summit on the Information Society took place in 2003 and 2005 under the patronage of the United Nations.

2007THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGEThe Earth’s climate is changing. This brings global challenges in dealing with the effects, and in preventing further damage. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are central to these tasks, and ITU is committed to supporting and promoting the use of ICTs to help safeguard our world.

2008ENSURING CYBERSECURITYEstablishing the necessary global response to Cybersecurity , took a step forward with the creation in 2008 of ITU-IMPACT: an operational center for protecting cybersecurity.

2010BROADBAND — A PLATFORM FOR PROGRESSTo promote expansion of the Broadband technology, in 2010 the Broadband Commission was established by ITU, together with UNESCO.

2013ACCESSIBILITY FOR ALLIt has been estimated that about 1 billion people worldwide are living with some form of disability. They can be greatly helped by information and communication technologies (ICTs) that expand access to knowledge, careers, and key public services. ITU is active in promoting this progress – as well as in making sure that ICT devices themselves can be used by everyone. Digital inclusion is an essential in ITU’s mission to connect the world.

The Broadband Commission for Digital Development was launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in response to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call to step up efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Established in May 2010, the Commission unites government leaders, top industry executives, thought leaders, policy pioneers, international agencies and organizations concerned with development.The Broadband Commission has recently come out with its annual report for digital development

`THE STATE OF BROADBAND 2015: BROADBAND AS A FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT’


http://www.broadbandcommission.org/documents/reports/bb-annualreport2015.pdf

F A S T T R A C K I N G O F N O F N

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First workshop was held on May 29, 2015 under the Chairpersonship of the Union Minister of Communications & IT with State IT Ministers and Secretaries. Subsequent to the workshop, 14 States namely Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Kerala have conveyed their formal consent for adopting the State led model for implementation of BharatNet. Besides, 4 States namely Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur and West Bengal have also shown their

willingness to adopt State led model, although their formal consent are still awaited.

As part of consultation with States proposing to adopt the State led model, another workshop was held on 30th July 2015, with IT Secretaries of these States to deliberate upon the processes involved in implementation of State led model of BharatNet viz. structure of proposed SPV, Network Planning, DPR preparation, Bid management, management of NOC (Network Operations Centres) and other operational issues.

A S

tatu

s u

pd

ate

SETTING UP OF NOFN EXPERT COMMITTEE

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had formed an eight member expert committee on NOFN (National Optical Fiber Network) to accelerate the project and

connect all gram panchayats by December 2016.The committee members included: J Satyanarayana, former secretary, DeitY; Kiran Karnik, former president, NASSCOM; Som Mittal, former president, NASSCOM; Rajat Moona, director, CDAC New Delhi; Prof S Sadagopan, director, IIIT Bangalore; Anil Bhargava, member – Incharge (Technology), DoT; Aruna Sundararajan, administrator, USO Fund; and V Umashankar, joint secretary, DoT.Expert committee on NOFN submitted its report on 31st March 2015 and the report is under examination by the Competent authority.

Report being submitted to the hon’ble Minister of IT and Communications Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad

ENGAGEMENT WITH STATES

P.K. Agarwal, Dir (P), BBNL addressing the state IT Secretaries during the workshop


http://www.dot.gov.in/reports-statistics/report-committee-nofn

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1 1

2 3

2

7

4 6 4

3 5

5

CLUES

Across 1. Provide power, naturally.2. First to be lighted.3. Part of coordinates.4. One of the three pilots, does not fly any planes.5. Vehicle for implementation, not to carry people.

Top-Down1. Pertaining to light.2. ______________economy to get boost through NOFN.3. Provides the position, kind of information system.4. Proposed to be free but only for limited time.5. Parent group, also part of our premises.6. Topology for resilient architecture.7. Implementation Partners, now not the only ones.

Crossword

ACROSS1. Solar2. Idukki3. Latitud4. Parvada5. Spv

TOP-DOWN1. Optical2. Rural3. Gis4. Wifi5. Dot6. Rings7. Cpsu

Contributed by PWC Team


S O M E P E R S O N A L T H O U G H T S

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The committee setup to review NOFN project, submitted its report on 31st March, 2015. Amongst its various recommendations, the committee also recommended to rename the project

as BharatNet. The changes proposed in the project that would happen as part of this transition from NOFN to BharatNet can broadly be classified as either “hard changes” or “soft changes”.

While hard changes are quite obviously stated in the report (even though their full impact can be sometimes hard to decode), the soft changes are not quite obvious; and it is the soft changes that are the most impactful. Unless one comprehends these soft changes, the challenges of implementation will always look daunting.

Some of the key hard changes that have been proposed are listed in the figure above. Provided below is an attempt to analyse the soft changes that BharatNet proposes bring.

It’s about collaborating to bring a wide ranging impact rather than one entity forcing it down. NOFN was always been a transformational project and like any transformational project, it requires close collaboration with a larger set of stakeholders. BharatNet aims to do just that.

It’s about evolution rather than an end in itself. While human nature is to strive to move in a definite direction, one needs to understand that the path may not always be clear. Things have changed and they will change again.

We just need to have to enough provision to adapt to the requirements of change. BharatNet has tried to build

flexibilities to embrace those changes as and when they are required to be made.• It’s about creating enabling an ecosystem and not

just infrastructure. Provision of free Wi-Fi services, District Level Data Centres etc. are all examples of steps that have been proposed in BharatNet to create an ecosystem.

• It’s about being bold and challenging the assumptions while validating them in the context

NOFN to BharatNetWhat has changed?

India and BharatSuch a statement may have attracted controversy in the past decades, but with all the on-ground development visible around us today, the synchronous vibe in the urban and rural India growing together is felt naturally. I can personally vouch for it

because I am able talk to my parents, who are living a no-frills retired life far from the madding capital, every day. A simple internet connection at both our ends gives my parents an opportunity to see my kids grow and gives me the pleasure of observing them grow old with grace. I, along with millions of Indians, am fortunate to be living in this era of advanced technology and innovation.

The technology of today derives its every commercial value of existence by making the virtual knowledge mega-space called the ‘internet’ accessible to people. And while admittedly it is the developed countries that have driven the use cases of broadband and internet, India has smartly followed and has contextualized at the right time; BhartNet is one such contextualization that is being done at the opportune time.

Today, although villages in India may not have 24-hour electricity, they are connected to the world through 4/5 inch smartphone screens. And the rural population is just about starting to explore the internet beyond video conferences with family members; into the bottomless social media space. I wouldn’t go so far as to paint a

Vishal Puri, PWC

Neel Ratan, PWC


http://www.dot.gov.in/reports-statistics/report-committee-nofn

59

of today’s needs. There would be no takers, legal provisions will not allow that, industry will not adopt it etc. are a number of over-arching assumptions that have been challenged under BharatNet. And if this project has to succeed we will have to keep challenging – ourselves and others to take some of the limiting assumptions head on.

In the larger interest of the country, we would do well to understand and internalize these changes. That would be the right step forward.

rosy picture that includes e-commerce transactions for rural households any time in the immediate future, but the seeds of familiarizing with the medium, that is extremely important to build trust for financial transactions, have been laid.

I have always maintained that the Indian Government, on its part, should be lauded for pre-empting the need for rural broadband as early as 2011, and is thus comfortably placed today, after the strategizing and planning efforts, to kick-start hundreds of BharatNet go-lives in the identified gram panchayats. However, the one missing element, that I continue to raise in different forums, is the lack of push in government’s efforts in ensuring uptake of the empowering rural infrastructure.

While businesses, the ultimate service provider being connected with the consumer, are quite upbeat on the BharatNet programme, there is a hitch behind closed doors, a feeling that perhaps the rural customer may not be ready to spend by leveraging the start-of-the-art digital medium. This stand of the businesses may be vindicated when we observe the lack of awareness among the rural populace on the uptake of rural broadband. BharatNet aims to ‘transform’, and with its ambitious infrastructure implementation targets it may as well do so on an enabler level, but unless the rural populace is ready to create the demand, we may face a tough time convincing businesses to use the state of the art broadband highways.

.......Growing Together

BharatNet plays a crucial role in the digital revolution that is sweeping through every sphere of life – education, business, entertainment, environment, health and e-governance services.

Touching every sphere, every life

NOFN BharatNet

Capacity Model

• Min 100 Mbps at all GPs • GP capacity on the basis of household density around that GP

Infrastructure Scope

• Incremental Fiber From Block to GP

• Block PoPs at BSNL Exchanges

• District to Block to GP Fiber

• PoPs at identified Government Buildings

Technology • GPON (L2 Technology)• Linear Topology• Fiber Only

• Services oriented L3 technology

• Primarily Ring Topology• Fiber + RF + VSAT

Services Scope

• Services envisaged under GUN project - 2 Govt. institutions at GP, Wi-Fi hot spot at GP

• GUN + SWAN + NII services

Utilization Model

• Bandwidth Sale • Dark fiber lease + Bandwidth Sale



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Digital India A National Responsibility Jitendra Garg, GM, BD, BBNL

Jitendra Garg, GM, BD, BBNL

In recent years, Digital India has been much discussed in print media, electronics media and also on national and world political platforms. Still it is a distant dream of billions of people. All the efforts put by various government agencies are not able to produce any visible fruitful result so far and appears to loose its momentum.

Information and communication technologies (In India context it is widely referred to “Digital India (DI) have always been essential for the promotion of development whether such knowledge was derived from the centuries old endowment of indigenous practices or from the latest cutting-edge technologies. Today, the technologies of the information and communication revolution are those at the cutting edge and their applications offer momentous opportunities for development. They present the developing community/rural populous with enormous opportunities and challenges, not only for accelerating their development but also in helping to bridge the economic and prosperity gaps between them and the developed community/urban populous. It also presents the developing community with a unique opportunity to leap-frog onto a higher level of development. Some developing community has in fact made significant strides in embracing and accessing the opportunities and applications of the new information and communication technologies.

Yet, billions still live untouched by the digital revolution. Only few thousands of our Gram Panchayat (GPs) & villages population can claim connectivity. Yet, only those communities with a significant level of development have been in a position to take advantage of the new opportunities. The gap between the developed and developing community is being further aggravated by a worsening digital divide and it holds ominous consequences for employment levels, under-development and poverty. This adverse scenario could also lead to increased national and international tensions and instabilities.

We must therefore ask why and how we should redress this worsening situation. Part of the reason I believe, is that, while ICTs have vast potential for development, the reality is that to harness these forces for promoting development is a formidable and complex task that few developing countries have found a successful formula for overcoming. First, there is the formidable expense of connectivity. These cost factors tend to inhibit the spread of information and communication technologies and undermine their universal usage. Moreover, while it may be true that certain development problems can be resolved through technological leap-frogging without having to rise through the traditional stages of development, it is also true that access to such solutions presupposes a relatively high level of development, which many developing countries simply do not have. Unless there is affordable and equitable access and adequate connectivity for the


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peoples of the developing countries, the prospects of effectively participating in the knowledge economy are anything but optimistic.

To address the visible digital knowledge gaps, in 2015, the Government of India took a new an ambitious initiative in the area of information and communication technology popularly known by “Digital India”– A program to transform India into digital empowered society and knowledge economy. This will be for preparing the India for the knowledge based transformation and delivering good governance to citizens by synchronized and co-ordinate engagement with both Central Government and State Government. Under this flagship program, main beneficiaries would be our rural population.

The vision of Digital India is to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. It would ensure that government services are available to citizens electronically. It would also bring in public accountability through mandated delivery of government’s services electronically.

In recent years, Digital India has been much discussed in print media, electronics media and also on national and world political platforms. Still it is a distance dream of billions of people. All the efforts put by various government agencies are not able to produced any visible fruitful result so far and appears to loose its momentum. Present fragmented approach will not able to digitally integrate the country. In last few years GOI tried to accelerate the growth of broadband in India and left no stone unturned but result stated different story. Recently survey conducted by UN –backed global rating agency has revealed that India has loosed its BB position vis-a-vis to other equivalent country. The annual State of broadband report placed India 131st in fixed broadband coverage, down from 131 the 125th spot in 2013.

What has gone grossly wrong at policy makers’ side? It raised the doubts whether our policy makers are competent enough to understand the nitty-gritty of Digital India? Many policy makers understanding are that developing few applications will realize the dream of Digital India. It is time to think about our approach

FIXED -BROADBAND SUBSCRIPTIONS PER 100 INHABITANTS ,2014

2013 2014 Economy Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 capita24 23 United States 30.4

50 56 Russian fed. 17.5

59 67 China 14.4

73 76 Brazil 11.5

106 110 South Africa 3.2

125 131 India 1.2

122 133 Indonesia 1.2

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PERCENTAGE OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH INTERNET

2013 2014 Economy

33 34 China 47.4

34 32 Brazil 48

37 43 South Africa 37.3

75 80 India 15.3

95 75 Indonesia 29.1

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and start our fresh journey of Digital India without any hesitation. Now question arise what has to be done in present scenario?

NEW UNIFIED ORGANIZATIONOne of the biggest reasons for failure of Digital India so far is fragmented approach. Technology for DI required convergence but our approach is non-cohensive. Over period of a time, we have observed that most of the central ministries whether it is Health, Education, Skill development, rural development, DeitY or State govt, all are having budgetary provision to support DI but very little they did it to take the journey forward to GPs. The project is meant to provide the e- services at the door step of villagers. Different organization/ ministry think differently or they perceived as an additional work for them. Most of the ministries are not having human capability to understand the Digital India. They are not able to connect themselves with the spirit of the project.

Many ministries/state govt are not having stable and continuous support system to facilitate the project. The present fragmented approach would not able to reap the fruit of digital India. There is an urgent need to revamp the present implementation organization setup Infrastructure and services of Digital India should be merged in one entity. New organization set up should be headed by Chairman (Prominent public figure) and should be assisted by a DG. Under DG, there should be nine ADG ranked officers. Out of these nine officers, five will take care of different five regions of the country and will have close interaction with state administration and facilitate them to meet their aspiration from DI. One ADG officer will be take care of services/utilization of network part and remaining three officers would take care of planning, Operation and finance part of the entire digital India. The new setup should have one stop solution for all Digital India and should be accountable & responsible for all the issues related to DI project. The proposed new organization set up will able to addressed may concerns which are contributing delayed in the project or states are feeling isolated in present approach.

Further, state has to depute their officers in the new organization and will responsible for harmonizing the approach between state and center govt. They should report to their respective chief secretary as well to controlling officers of new organization. State govt not only becomes the part of larger Digital India programme and new set up will provide them flexibility to meet their aspiration as well. No need to develop a new set up in the state.

Similarly, central ministry can be part of Digital India by deputing its officers in the new organization and their programme can be embedded with Larger Digital India platform. It would not only save the precious resources as well as time. We have to build flexibility in the organization so that any other organization may use the services of Digital India organization.

OTHER VISIBLE ADVANTAGES1. It would unleashed the effective utilization of

central resources and knowledge ie planning, GIS, technical specification, RoW, telecom procurement etc otherwise each state has to build the capacity to handle such kind of humongous skilled resources which may takes years to build.

2. No fund transferred issue, less documentations and further less bureaucratic procedure

3. Better and close co-ordination between various ministries and State govt

4. Better coordination with foreign organizations that have deep interest in “Digital India” and would able to align with the vision of political establishment

5. Bulk discount on procurement, thereby reduce the cost of the project.

6. Better handling of RoW issues and regulatory issues7 Better coordination among the states and each will

enrich with the experiences of others.8. Centralized pooling of digital India fund moreover

one stop solution for all DI issues.

Once we have placed the right organization structure; the dream of digital India will become a reality with political push. Otherwise it will become an inhibit in the growth of entire DI and country future growth will be stagnated and will unable to take advantage of the enormous economic and social benefits the Internet can offer. All of us must understand that reaching the rural poor might appear to be more costly and time-consuming than reaching the urban or peri-urban poor; we believe that this is a task that can no longer be neglected or postponed. If we want to contribute to building a world where peace prevails over war and terrorism, and prosperity over poverty, so we have to extend of new age digital highway for rural people at affordable cost is to be part of government and developed community endeavor.

“Digital India” has potential to deliver digital information and transformed the rural populous into a modern knowledge based society and capacity to meet their modern age aspiration provided if we put the first brick at right place in the foundation of Digital India.

Pages 58-62 : Disclaimer : Views expressed are the personal views of the author


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Sh. BK Mittal, who recently joined

as Director (Operations), BBNL

Sh. M.P. Singal, CGM (IT), BBNL who recently took over the additional charge of Chief Vigilance Officer, BBNL, being welcomed by

Director (Operations)

Sh. U.K. Shrivastava who recently joined as CGM (North Zone),

BBNL being welcomed by Director (Operations)

S O M E T H I N G T O P O N D E R

Trifles make perfection and

perfection is no trifle

-Michael Angelo

T E R M E X P L A I N E D

Welcome......

CLOUD COMPUTING// Cloud computing is internet (“cloud”) based development and use of computer technology (“computing”). It typically involves the provision of dynamically scalable, often virtualized resources over the internet as a service.

The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams. Typical cloud computing services provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser web, while the software and data are stored on the servers.


N E W S B Y T E S

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I N D I A Union Minister of Communications & IT on 30/9/2015 released a commemorative postal stamp on BR Ambedkar. The GOI is

celebrating 125th birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar in the year 2015. Dr. Ambedkar was posthumously given the highest civilian award of India, Bharat Ratna in 1990. He died in 1956.

A single emergency number will soon be a reality in India as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has approved the proposal of TRAI in this regard. The existing emergency numbers will continue to exist for a period of one year. All the existing emergency numbers such as 100, 101, 102 and 108 will be retained as secondary numbers which would then be re-routed to the single emergency number 112. These numbers will be closed in a phased manner following a public awareness campaign.

G L O B A L The name of the Internet.org application on Google Play has been changed to Free Basics by Facebook.

According to Jupiter Research, based on a range of energy, traffic management and street lighting metrics, the world’s current number one smart city is Barcelona. New York was second, London third, with Nice and Singapore in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Although the pace of change is dizzying, the future is bright for digital business. Never before have we been more connected to one another. According to GMSA, the number of unique mobile

subscribers at the end of 2014 was 3.6 billion – that means half of the world’s population now subscribes to mobile services. By 2020, 60 percent will. The Internet of Things is growing even more rapidly, with projections of 30 billion to 50 billion connected devices by 2020. This means huge opportunities and challenges for digital service providers.

Sharing, rather than, owning, is arguably the single biggest trend in the digital world. In 2015, Uber is the world’s largest taxi company,

although it doesn’t own any vehicles; Facebook is the world’s most popular media owner, but creates no content; Alibaba, the planet’s most valuable retailer, has no inventory; and Airbnb, the world’s biggest provider of accommodation, doesn’t own any real estate.

Fifty years ago, on 19 April 1965 Intel co-founder Gordon Moore outlined his vision of how microelectronics would power the modern world - introducing Moore’s Law, which predicted the power of microchips would double every 18 months.The Tianhe-2 (Milkyway-2) a 3,120,000-core machine at the National Supercomputer Centre in Guangzhou, China is the world’s fastest supercomputer, capable of delivering 33.86 petaflops.

There are four billion people in the world that don’t have access to connectivity.In a bid to break down barriers to connectivity, Google has been working on 3 connectivity and wireless access projects namely :a) Google Fiber - an ultra-fast broadband service offering up to one gigabit in upload and download speed, the service was originally launched in 2013 and is currently in only three cities in the US , with another four undergoing construction.b) Google’s Project Loon - Project Loon develops balloons that once released in the sky act as floating cell towers, giving Internet access to urban areas. Helium balloons that circle the globe on stratospheric winds carry signals to households up to 20km below. The project has expanded following initial trials above Christchurch in New Zealand in 2013. (c) Project Titan - After acquiring Titan Aerospace in 2014, the firm’s team worked closely with Project Loon in order to develop drones capable of delivering Internet speeds of up to 1GB/second.

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