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Digital Inclusion, Local Government, Technology

Indian state to deploy WiMAX for e-govt

By Jianggan Li | 1 December 2008

The Government of the Indian State of Chhattisgarh will modernise its communications infrastructure through a new, high-bandwidth State Wide Area Network (SWAN) which will - for the first time - connect all the departments of the state.

The Chhattisgarh SWAN (CG SWAN), which will be deployed by Nortel, is a hybrid network with a mix of wireless and wireline access supporting voice, data and video traffic. It will be one of the largest fixed WiMAX deployments in the country for e-government, providing access to 3,000 locations in the State.

The CGSWAN will also serve as the backbone for various state departments to deploy IT-related applications for the public. Central to the Government of India’s National e-Governance Plan are Common Services Centres (CSCs) set up in easily accessible areas to enable people to conduct all their government-related work. The various citizen-facing services under all the departments of the State are made available under one roof in such centres, providing easy access to services such as applying for birth certificates, land use records or business certification while also allowing people to track the status of their application online.

The SWAN will provide intra-department as well as inter-department connectivity and access to all departments under the State Government. For example, not only will the Regional Transport Offices (RTO) be connected across the State, but they can also be connected to the Police department. If there is a vehicle used in a crime, the police department can instantly access the details of the owner of the vehicle, residing within the RTO, resulting in swift action against the offender.

The government has also deployed Juniper Networks routing and security solutions to link various access points for the services that are secured using online validation and digital certificates.

Improved data sharing among different departments of the government enabled by SWAN will lead to better monitoring and evaluation of Government programmes as well as a more effective, efficient and transparent administration. E-government for citizens will also be greatly improved through real-time access to information reducing the needs for multiple visits and time consuming, paper-based approvals.

““This is one of the nation’s largest infrastructure deployments to date and forms the cornerstone of our state-wide WiMAX plans,” says Aman Singh, Secretary of IT of the State and Chief Executive Officer of Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society (CHiPS), a division of the Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology, Government of Chhattisgarh. “With SWAN, we will be able to connect our offices not just at the headquarters level, but right down to the local administration levels even in remote, inaccessible areas.”

CHiPs is the prime mover for propelling IT growth and implementation of IT plans in the state. It selected WiMAX-based last-mile connectivity over competing WLAN technologies for its cost-effectiveness and simplicity to deploy high-performance solutions.

“WiMAX is a proven technology for providing reliable communications and access across rough terrains and remote areas that are difficult to serve with conventional wireless or wireline technologies. We estimate we will save close to 30 per cent over five years compared to a WLAN solution,” says Singh. “WiMAX is also based on open standards, which is key to the government’s e-governance vision to implement platforms that offer interoperability.”

In the State with thick forest cover and other inaccessible locations, WiMAX avoids the hassle of laying expensive cables with extensive digging. The network will cover all the locations in the state for the last mile through fewer cell sites which means the rollout will be faster with WiMAX while ensuring lower total cost of ownership.

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