According to a formal statement, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) aims to build about 10,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables (OFC) infrastructure across the country by 2024-2025. This effort aims to accelerate the roll-out of advanced telecom technologies such as 5G and 6G and bring internet services to remote areas. The National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), a wholly owned special purpose vehicle of the NHAI, would be responsible for setting up the network of digital roads by creating integrated utility corridors along the national highways to create OFC infrastructure. There are 512 km on the Hyderabad-Bangalore corridor and 1,367 km on the Delhi-Mumbai highway that will serve as the pilot routes for the construction of the 'digital highway'.

The 246 km section Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which has a special three- meter utility corridor for laying fiber optic cables, has recently been opened. This will act as the basis for the roll-out of the 5G network in the region. The work to build OFC along the national highways has started, and it should be ready in about a year.

According to news agency PTI, the OFC network will deliver 'fibre-on-demand' or straight plug-and-demand. play models for telecom and internet services. It will be rented to qualified customers through a Web portal on an "open to all" basis against a fixed price allocation process. The department Telecommunications (DoT) and industry regulator Trai were consulted during the finalisation of the OFC allocation policy.