Northeast telecom connectivity uncertain as DoT, BSNL differ

Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), a telecom department’s wing has blamed the state-owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) implementation partner Vihaan Networks Limited (VNL) for using substandard technology in a government-aided Northeast telecom connectivity initiative, a charge which is though denied by the Gurgaon-based firm.

“Anything in the name of home-made technology should not be deployed in a government project unless it meets international standards,” USOF administrator Sanjay Singh told ETTelecom, adding that the department was very transparent and much concerned about the quality.

Singh further added that there was a serious petition saying mala fide selection of firms and that has also sought the court’s intervention to scrap the project.

The USO-funded initiative being driven by state-owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) involves installation of 2,817 mobile towers in the rough terrain of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam’s two districts— Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, with VNL deploying 1,893 sites and Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) 924 mobile towers in Assam.

The spat between the two escalated after a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan on behalf of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Supreme Court, and a subsequent letter from a lawmaker Ninong Ering dated October 9 to the PMO, a copy of which is with ETTelecom, alleging the technology used by public-sector telco was outdated and procured at a high cost.

Ering in his letter added, “the state of Arunachal Pradesh should not be made dumping yard in the name of technology.”

Earlier this month, BSNL in its response to the Apex Court argued that the petition was misconceived and could not be maintained, while the use 2G and 4G equipment together was mandated only in May 2018, much later than the contract was originally awarded.

However, homegrown gear maker VNL founder-chairman Rajiv Mehrotra refuting the accusation of deploying outdated technology or hardware, said that their telecom equipment goes through a series of rigorous tests aimed at installation in inhospitable conditions.

“We have a strong track record with negligible complaints as far as our equipment is concerned,” Mehrotra said, adding that vested interests were unfairly targeting India’s homegrown equipment manufacturing company by spreading falsehood to derail the project which was vital for connectivity and security of the region.

Early this year, Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) has suggested that the Rs 50,000 crore strong corpus– USO fund– used to bridge rural-urban digital divide, should not be misused on promoting “obsolete technologies” to fuel rural telecom connectivity.

Due to the continued absence of telecom infrastructure, some of the subscribers in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh experience Chinese mobile signals on their handsets and also receive messages from China-based telecom networks every time they turn their phones on.

The initiative is, however, considered to be one of the crucial programs of the Narendra Modi-headed NDA government and aimed to be completed by December this year initially but no purchase order (PO) was even released— making connectivity a distant dream for hilly people.