Bengaluru: It is known fact that over 4,000 villages in Karnataka are connected through National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) services. The State government is now planning to provide Wi-Fi access to 1,000 gram panchayat villages in the State.

According to sources, additional secretary (Telecom) N Sivasailam has directed Karnataka to go beyond and digitally connect 1,000 villages. He has requested the state government to sponsor Wi-Fi in all villages in a phased manner by selecting initially about 1,000 GP villages with high population and also to sanction Bharathnet Phase III in the state.

“This will help Karnataka to facilitate not only proliferation of Internet services but also its reliability in GP villages. Part of this is to be taken up on overhead to roll out the network fast and reduce the project cost. BSNL has indicated that this part of the project may take about 12 to 24 months to complete in a progressive manner in all 30 districts,” Sivasailam said.

Providing public Wi-Fi access will cost Rs 2.5 lakh per village per annum for the State government. Earlier this month, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had launched Wi-Fi services in 11 gram panchayats, two each in Mysuru, Tumakuru, Gadag, Ballari and Kalaburgi and one in Bagalkot.