Telecom dept mulls sale of fibre assets built for BharatNet

With hardly any takers for the 2.5 lakh kilometre fibre laid by the government under the BharatNet project, the department of telecommunications is now considering either selling the assets or leasing it out on long-term basis to private telcos.

Sources in the DoT said that the telecom commission has given an in-principle approval to a proposal for sale or lease of the fibre assets.

However, industry sources said that DoT may not be able to find any takers in the industry easily because there could be duplication in areas where the fibre is laid, meaning telcos may be having their own fibre network in those areas.