HFCL recognised for its role in India’s BharatNet project

HFCL, an Indian telecom solutions provider specialising in technologies such as optical fibre, Wi-Fi and 5G infrastructure, has received the 2025 Fierce Network Innovation Award in the Rural Broadband Deployment category for its role in advancing India’s BharatNet programme. The award acknowledges HFCL’s contribution to developing a resilient and extensive rural digital network that supports access to education, healthcare, commerce and public services for millions of rural residents.

The Fierce Network Innovation Awards are recognised internationally within the telecom sector. Assessed by a panel of analysts, industry specialists and service providers, the awards highlight technologies and deployments that contribute to progress in broadband, wireless, cloud and emerging connectivity solutions.

The 2025 awards cohort reflects a broad range of global innovation. Winners included Ericsson, Ciena, Singtel, Tarana Wireless, Amdocs, Netcracker, Rakuten Symphony, Samsung Networks and GFiber. HFCL’s inclusion among these organisations reflects the growing international visibility of India’s contributions to digital infrastructure development.

BharatNet, which aims to connect 640,000 villages and 250,000 Village Councils (Gram Panchayats), is regarded as the world’s largest rural broadband initiative. As a technology partner, HFCL has supported the programme’s evolution under the Amended BharatNet Programme (2023). Its work includes supplying indigenously designed IP/MPLS routers and broadband gateways to help shift the network from a linear GPON framework to a ring-based IP/MPLS architecture. This transition is intended to reduce downtime and accommodate future rural digital services such as telemedicine, remote learning, digital payments and e-governance.

The company has had key involvement in BharatNet Phase 3, covering an estimated 40–45% of Gram Panchayats, illustrates its capacity to deliver large-scale infrastructure. The resulting improvements in connectivity have supported various social and economic developments across rural India, including greater access to online education, healthcare services, financial tools, entrepreneurial opportunities and public Wi-Fi.