"We will float the tenders for electronics equipment later this month or early next month, while ducting, as also trenching and laying of cables, will be executed by the three companies in their respective areas allotted to them."

Bharat Broadband was set up as a special vehicle in February last year for overseeing the National Optical Fibre Network project using what is called the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

The fund gets its money from telecom operators who mandatorily have to contribute a portion of their revenues towards rural telephony. As per official estimates, 27,949.91 crore ($4.7 billion) is the current balance in the fund.

In the National Telecom Policy of 2012, a mandate was given for affordable and reliable broadband on demand by 2015, with a target of 175 million connections by 2017 and 600 million by 2020. This was at a minimum speed of mbps, with higher bandwidth of up to 100 mbps on demand.

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