As per an official statement, by FY2024-25, the State-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is working towards development of around 10,000 kilometres of Optic Fibre Cables (OFC) infrastructure across the country.
10000 Kms of OFC Across India
As per the statement, the National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), a fully-owned special purpose vehicle of NHAI, will implement the network of “digital highways” by developing integrated utility corridors along the national highways to develop OFC infrastructure.
As per the information, around 1,367 kilometres on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and 512 km on the Hyderabad-Bangalore corridor have been identified as pilot routes for the digital highway development.
The statement said that the OFC network will help expedite the roll-out of new-age telecom technologies like 5G & 6G and provide internet connectivity to remote locations across the country.
A three-metre dedicated utility corridor featured in the recently recently-inaugurated 246-km Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway used to lay optical fibre cables, which will serve as the backbone for the roll-out of the 5G network in the region.
Optic Fibre Cables to be laid within a year
As per the statement the OFC laying work which has been started alongside the national highways shall take one year to complete.
When it comes to the telecom/internet services, the OFC network will allow direct plug-and-play or ‘fibre-on-demand’ model for the telecom/internet services.
The statement said that it shall be on fixed price allotment mechanism that the network will be leased out, which shall be ‘open for all’ basis through a web portal to eligible users. It also added that the OFC allotment policy is being finalised in consultation with the department of telecommunications (DoT) and sector regulator Trai.
The statement noted that creation of “digital highways” will not only have a catalytic impact on the growth and development but also contribute to the digital transformation of the country.
