Hughes India, a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, will provide internet services to 5,000 remote villages in 15 states and UTs including Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep using ISRO’s communications satellites, GSAT-19 and GSAT-11, it said Tuesday.
Hughes India was awarded the contract by Bharat Broadband Nigam Ltd (BBNL), a special purpose vehicle created to implement government of India’s BharatNet project, which strives to bring internet connectivity at speeds of 2 to 20Mbps to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across India.
“BharatNet network being created by BBNL is to provide affordable high-speed broadband access to rural citizens and institutions of all the gram panchayats of the country. We are very happy to be partnering with TCIL and Hughes to leverage satellite broadband to connect gram panchayats that are remote or located in difficult terrain," Sarvesh Singh, CMD, BBNL said in a statement.