New Delhi, July 14 -- Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal on Monday said that all Indian villages will have a high-speed fibre network within the next three years.

The central government had launched an ambitious BharatNet programme to connect the villages. The primary objective is to provide unrestricted access to broadband connectivity to all telecom service providers.

"Government of India is spending Rs 140,000 to connect every gram panchayat with 1 gigabit per second connectivity. As we speak, roughly 50,000 panchayats have 1 gigabit per second connectivity with an SLA of more than 98 per cent," the secretary said, speaking at the CII Global Capability Centers (GCCs) Summit.

"There's a long way to go, and we hope that within 3 years we...