Airtel’s eGram Connectivity Infrastructure Project

Ahmedabad: Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s leading telecommunications services provider, on Monday announced having connected 8,500 under the eGram Connectivity Infrastructure Project of the Gujarat Government.

Under the country’s largest e-governance rural connectivity initiative at the level, Airtel is setting-up telecom infrastructure by providing a comprehensive VSAT-based solution to connect panchayats and Common Service Centers (CSCs) located in the remotest corners of the State. The project roll-out covering 13,716 is expected to be completed by July 2008, well ahead of the target date.

On May 1, Gujarat’s Foundation Day, Airtel connected all 590 villages of Amreli district when the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, inaugurated the eGram project at a function in Amreli. A video conference with the Gram panchayats of two villages — Ishwariya and Galkotdi — was facilitated by Airtel on this occasion.

Extending services:

Mr Modi also announced the extension of the eGram initiative to cover all the 18,000-odd in Gujarat.