Optical & Fixed Networks

BSNL awards two more BharatNet contracts

BSNL awards two more BharatNet contracts

State-owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced the awarding of two more BharatNet contracts as the village connectivity project enters its third, and presumably final, phase.

They will go to the state-owned Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), a prime engineering and consultancy company, and Pratap Technocrats Private Limited (PTPL) following an ongoing financial evaluation. PTPL describes itself as India’s only project management service provider with the biggest portfolio of managing towers and fibre in both urban and rural sectors. The two emerged as the lowest bidders for the remaining four BharatNet Phase-3 packages.

BharatNet, an initiative to connect 600,000 villages, dates back to 2011, although it is said to have missed several deadlines since then.

With the third phase of the ambitious fibre network rollout now under way, BSNL is looking to finally digitally connect the target number of villages in a bid to end India's digital divide by the end of 2028.

Last week, public sector TCIL won a package relating to Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya, three states in northeastern India. PTPL outbid rivals in three packages: Rajasthan, a state in northwestern India Haryana, a North Indian state surrounding New Delhi on three sides and Assam, a state in northeastern India.

India’s Economic Times reports that the optical fibre broadband network programme has seen a great deal of competition among vendors. It adds that nearly 280,000 village blocks are service-ready currently, with more than 4.2 million kilometres of optical fibre cable already deployed.



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