Cash rich USO Fund wasting money

Cash rich Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is bent upon wasting public money by investing in outdated 2G technology. On October 17, 2019, it invited a tender for putting up 2G+4G equipment at 2,217 sites affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) under the phase-II scheme. The project cost is estimated to be Rs 3,214.65 crore, which means Rs 1.45 crore per site.

On November 4, 2019, it floated another tender for providing mobile towers at 354 sites for uncovered villages. The estimated cost of this project is Rs 424.80 crore ie Rs 1.20 crore per site. The equipment is being procured on a technology neutral basis with the end objective of providing voice and data services.