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India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

indianexpress.com

61–70 of 124 posts

Re: India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

#61
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have backpacked through one of the regions where some of the construction you are talking about is going on. In one of the Himalayan states, one of their ambitious highway projects has caused destruction with little benefit to the local populace and far negative consequences to the terrain and environment. Pursuing development is good but it shouldn't come at the cost of destroying your ecology and environment, spe…

If you happen to be standing near a highway sure it’s ugly, but they have minimal impact on low population density areas.

I am not sure about that, few of the issues I saw was

- inconsiderate cutting/blasting in landslide prone areas.

- destruction of vegetation by throwing away the waste/debris from the cutting/blasting downhill which covers the slope. [1]

- non disposal of the same waste impacting river flow paths and debris narrowing the river bed

There are far more issues relating to local population and ecology which have been documented.

[1] I have photos of my own but this also represents the conditions there quite well. https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/naal...

Re: India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

#62
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2018, the definition of length was changed to count each lane separately.[1] In 2019, the govt stopped building highways at the first sign of economic distress.[2] 1: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/now-new-concept-to... 2: https://www.livemint.com/industry/infrastructure/pmo-s-sugge...

While that juices the numbers conveniently, aren't the vast majority of India's roads still two-lane? And as the article notes, building 4 lanes costs more than twice the price building two lanes.

Yeah, I've no problem with the measure itself, but so far I haven't seen accurate comparisons across governments that normalise these figures. Neither from the government nor the pliant media.

The vast majority of Indians live in a media bubble.

Re: India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

#63
post #49

Have seen about 10 miles done in a day. How? By piggybacking on already lined 10Kv lines. About 1 meter under the lines put a galvanized steel bracket on each concrete pole and go. 3 people in one day laid 10 miles. If they had to put their own poles would have delayed but by a little. So it's doable and in countries like India, labor is virtually free and rules /permits are nonexistent so costs are low. Edit: India…

Step 1 is to stop emigrating from India to the US the moment you get a chance. I'm guilty of it as are many of my friends but it doesn't help develop a country when their brightest minds don't have enough faith to stay.

They will come back with lots of knowledge, money and connections.

Re: India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

#65
post #43
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Detroit had the same problem with copper wiring in street lights until a few years ago, when they went LED and were able to reduce the size of the conductors and switch to aluminum, reducing the value of stripping them for scrap.

Didn't we already learn (post-WWII US) that aluminum wiring is an unreliable idea?

There is functioning aluminum wiring all over the place in america, still operational to this day. I just has problems with overheating and catching fire if the load is too big. If you know the load will never change...

Re: India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

#66

As an Indian, I've heard countless plans like these every few years. I'll get excited when it actually happens.

True. In 2016 Smart City mission was heavily promoted and 100 cities won the rights. Not a single one has been developed in 5 years. My parents live in a planned newly built (< 10 years) area of a major city and they don't have either fibre or telephone cable. Internet is by very poor 4G. Recently a private fibre has started.

> Not a single one has been developed in 5 years.

How do you build 100 Smart Cities in 5 years? That is practically impossible to do. The mission itself spans over 2 decades. The 5 years is for finalization of the selection of cities and then planning. 20 were selected in 2016, and the rest in 2018. You are confusing this timeline with the entire Mission timeline which isn't 5 years by any stretch of imagination.

> Not a single one has been developed in 5 years.

AURIC is the first one to be completed. You can read more about it here: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/aurangabad/indias-f...

All of these Smart Cities are built in phases. First would be industrial townships followed by residential development. You can't build 100 Smart Cities in just 5 years. Even the Mission itself states that the results will be visible from 2022 onwards. We are still in 2020.

Re: India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

#67
post #43
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Detroit had the same problem with copper wiring in street lights until a few years ago, when they went LED and were able to reduce the size of the conductors and switch to aluminum, reducing the value of stripping them for scrap.

Didn't we already learn (post-WWII US) that aluminum wiring is an unreliable idea?

No. The problem was in the 70s, with single strand solid conductors which were legal for only a few years due to fire hazards. Multi-strand aluminum is still used all the time. The single strand can work itself loose if installed quickly/without proper care due to expansion and contraction, it's not a concern for multi-strand. Single strand is also ok for a dedicated line to a single appliance / load, which is what these lights would be.

Re: India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

#68

As an Indian, I've heard countless plans like these every few years. I'll get excited when it actually happens.

Comments like this should not be allowed on HN, they add nothing to the discussion. If there is specific critique about a particular minister, department, project (or just about anything specific than a generic "government"), that's more valuable to read.

Re: India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

#69
post #57
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like more fiber will change Germany's sucsess in building software companies. I'm sure the issue is much more complex than that.

Not much, pay the talents the right amount of money, make it easy for Startups, invest in European technologies and also produce them here, slim down the bureaucracy and the taxes for startups/spinoffs.

I agree with alot of those reasons, but Everywhere, People at startups earn less and work harder, for having an option of growth: stocks, job advancement, possibly better skills, etc.

How is the situation in Germany different ?

Re: India announces plan to connect 600k villages with optical fiber in 1000 days

#70
post #7

While at it, they should also put up a pole every village (like electric pole) with high range WiFi router. This will remove the last 100m connectivity hurdle and everyone with a WiFi device can get a taste of high speed internet.

Disclaimer : I live in a village in Rajasthan. People will still the WiFi device and sell it for pennies. They don't spare road light in many parts of cities.

Also happens in South Africa but they steal batteries and sell them for a good profit: https://youtu.be/P2gSsN8NlRg
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