All Gram Panchayats in the country will be connected through Optical Fibre Cable(OFC) by 2018.<br/><br/>In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today, IT Minister Ravi Shankar said the Centre plans to establish a network infrastructure by connecting all 2 lakh 50 thousand Gram Panchayats through OFC under Digital India Programme. <br/><br/>He said, this will be done by using an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre overpower lines, radio and satellite media, for providing broadband connectivity. <br/><br/>The project will be implemented in three phases. Mr. Prasad said a state-of-the-art Internet with underground OFC in ring architecture, is planned to be completed by 2023.