The Digital Bharat Nidhi: A Starting Point that Needs to Scale Further Up

In early August 2024, the Department of Telecommunications in India’s Ministry of Communications, announced the first set of rules to operationalize the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) to increase telecom connectivity to areas in India, that had hitherto, still remained untouched in the ‘digital age’. This followed the publishing of draft rules on 4 July with a 30-day public consultation period. The provisions of the DBN fall in Sections 24-26, Chapter V of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, passed by the Parliament in December last year. It replaces the erstwhile Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), established with statutory status through the Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003, through which a pool of funds is generated through a five per cent Universal Service Levy of the central government on all telecom operators on their adjusted gross revenue. The USOF has its genesis in a similar concept of Universal Service Obligation in the United Kingdom dating to 1837, that allowed the growth and expansion of postal services, and thus, a real public good. 

The idea behind USOF, and its new avatar, DBN, is to financially support the expansion and improvement of telecommunication services in underserved and remote areas as well as underserved sections of the population whom telecom operators may not consider profitable in terms of revenue generation. A sum of ₹800 billion (US$9.47 billion) has been budgeted for the implementation of the DBN with a government-appointed administrator to select implementers through bidding or invitation of applications to execute projects. The objective is to ensure the delivery of telecommunication services – including mobile and broadband services – along with requisite telecommunication equipment, to enhance telecom security, improve access and affordability of such services and introduce next generation telecommunication technologies. It is also intended to promote innovation and commercialization of indigenous technology development, establish relevant standards to meet national requirements, encourage start-ups, and bridge gaps in telecom ecosystem between different stakeholders. 

Bridging the Digital Divide in Border Areas

The digital divide in India, which was exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic, acquires even greater resonance in the border areas of the country, which are being rechristened by the government as “first villages” of the country instead of being called “remote areas”. This is especially relevant for states in India’s Northeast, and those in the Himalayan region. Infrastructure development, employment generation and concerns over human as well as natural resources in these regions have been stridently voiced in recent years, underscoring the need for more genuine policy-oriented responses than visualizing them only from the perspective of geopolitics. Mobile and internet connectivity is not only about speed and ease of communication, but about using Information and Communication Technology to also access government services and welfare schemes in a highly digitalized governance and delivery system. This has greater relevance for those residing in the border regions, where constrained telecommunication services impede citizens from claiming public goods. The quality of services of all three main non-government telecom service providers has also not justified their hiked tariff plans. 

Under the USOF, and now the DBN, schemes have been envisaged to provide mobile services in 354 ‘uncovered’ villages in the border areas including Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal and Uttarakhand at a cost of around ₹3.37 billion (US$0.04 billion), for which an agreement was signed in 2020, with Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), as the implementing agency. Under it, 319 villages have been provided internet coverage with the installation of 295 mobile towers, while work is in progress in 24 more villages. Another programme is the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region, to provide mobile coverage to the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, in identified uncovered villages and along the National Highways running through these states, through an agreement with Bharti Airtel Limited/Bharti Hexacomm Limited (BHL). Similarly, agreements were signed with both BHL and RJIL in 2021, for setting up 1,511 mobile towers to expand 4G services in Arunachal Pradesh and two districts of Assam (Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao) respectively. 

5G Services in Tibet

While India strives to achieve complete 4G connectivity in all border areas by October 2025, across the Himalayan gap, China has already gone a step further by operationalizing 5G services in Tibet, with the number of users over 798,000 and the number of 5G base stations being over 8,000, by the end of November 2022. In fact, Tibet installed its first 5G base station as early as 2019. As of October 2023, all of Tibet Autonomous Region has access to 5G services, with the regional administration investing 3.68 billion yuan (US$0.51 billion) in 5G construction, building a total of 10,067 5G base stations, connecting 2.27 million 5G mobile phone terminals, and having 27 5G base stations for every 10,000 people in the region. Such high-speed, high-quality internet services have especially benefitted the e-commerce industry and digital payments in the region. China plans to complete the expansion of 5G services to all border regions by the end of 2025. 

The expansion and scaling up of mobile services across the Line of Actual Control should be more than just a geopolitical challenge for India. Rather, it is about being responsive towards demands and voices of citizens in the ‘peripheries’ and making them active participants in the discourse of development. In addition to infrastructure development and physical connectivity (roads, tunnels, bridges), measures to boost the local economy (such as the Vibrant Villages initiative, or adventure tourism projects) and employment are conscious efforts towards facilitating reverse migration. The DBN is one arm of this broad border area development programme. 

Long Way to Go Still

Setting up telecom infrastructure, and expansion of digital connectivity is without doubt, a difficult proposition in border areas. In addition to the difficult terrain and constraints on account of terrain, local sensitivities and regulations associated with ownership of land and property in laying Optical Fibre Cables and setting up mobile towers have also proven to be challenges. Additionally, clearance from the Indian Army is a prerequisite for many significant projects. While the former is now inclined to share their own mobile platforms and technology for collaboration in civilian services, the telecom service providers are seeking more flexibility in their operations including the Right of Way for all operators, and stringent supervision of local infrastructure providers. In fact, the telecom service providers have also voiced concerns about the DBN being incremental and inadequate in terms of its ambitions and targets. If the intention is to extend the narrative of wholesome development that leaves no area of the country untouched, measures such as the DBN still have a long way to go.