Context: Recently, Bharat Air Fibre Services have been inaugurated at Akola in Maharashtra providing the residents wireless internet connections on demand.
Key Points

• The Bharat Air Fibre services are being introduced by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) as a part of the Digital India initiative by the Government of India. It is being scaled pan-India.

Features

• Aim is to provide BSNL fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) wireless connectivity up to a range of 20 km from the BSNL points of presence.
• The connectivity speed is 100 Mbps and BSNL is offering various broadband plans in wireline and wireless segments.
• There is a huge demand for high-speed broadband service in the present situation as there is the migration of people from metro cities to rural areas due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The service is becoming popular due to Work from Home (WFH), e-learning, online shopping, gaming and entertainment, etc. amidst lockdowns.
• BSNL is also providing unlimited free voice calling.
• Mechanism: It provides high-speed broadband to subscribers of remote areas by bridging the gap of last-mile connectivity through radio waves.
• A vast network of Optical Fibre has been laid by BSNL up to nearest Telephone Exchange or Mobile Tower and from there the connectivity is provided to subscribers over wireless.