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    Setback to govt e-services project; BSNL reluctant to lease out dark fibre

    Synopsis

    The fate of a near Rs 30,000-crore telecom venture for delivering community wi-fi services using the upcoming national optic fibre network (NOFN) venture is mired in uncertainty.

    ET Bureau
    KOLKATA: The fate of a near Rs 30,000-crore telecom venture for delivering community wi-fi services using the upcoming national optic fibre network (NOFN) venture is mired in uncertainty following Bharat Sanchar Nigam’s refusal to lease its dark or `unused' fibre resources for the project.

    The proposed government-to-citizen community e-services project “depends heavily on BSNL’s infrastructure, especially its dark fibre resources, but BSNL has expressed its inability to lease the dark fibre,” says an internal telecom department (DoT) note, seen by ET.

    State-run BSNL has communicated its decision to Bharat Broadband Networks Ltd (BBNL), which has been mandated to deliver the gamut of community-based broadband services ranging from e-health, e-education, e-governance to e-commerce transactions across 2.5 lakh gram panchayats that will be linked by the national broadband network.

    BSNL could not be reached immediately for comment but DoT insiders familiar the matter said the telco is averse to leasing its unused fibre on grounds that it needs spare bandwidth for ensuring uninterrupted telecom coverage in remote areas and for its own network expansion needs.

    The timing couldn't have been worse since Bharat Broadband Network was preparing to apply for a pan-India internet service provider licence to deliver G2C wi-fi services. BBNL needs the ISP permit to diversify into e-services as it is currently just a wholesale bandwidth supplier for the NOFN project.

    The latest hurdle comes at a time when DoT was preparing to seek Cabinet approval for implementing the e-services venture proposed to be co-funded by the rural development ministry and the Universal Services Obligation Fund - a DoT arm that subsidises rural network infrastructure rollouts.

    While the rural development ministry is expected to handle the Rs 24,720-crore operating expenditure bill over a 10 year-span, the USOF will shoulder the Rs 4,942 crore capex component.

    DoT is keen to implement the e-services project on a priority basis to create a rural broadband ecosystem by leveraging the NOFN backbone. Its objective is to develop this ecosystem for recovering the cost of the expensive NOFN infrastructure.

    The Rs 21,000-crore NOFN backbone is the telecom ministry's most ambitious venture for taking high-speed internet to the hinterlands, but the government needs a commercially viable broadband ecosystem, courtesy the e-services venture to recover costs.



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