BSNL and MTNL to operate and maintain network between government departments

It is believed that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) will operate and maintain the network being built to ensure confidentiality between government departments across the country. The Centre had earlier planned to ask security agencies to operate the network.

Further, it is believed that the Centre will provide funding to the operators running the network on a non-commercial basis.

The network will connect nearly 5,000 government departments at the Centre and in the states. However, it will not replace the existing telecom infrastructure in these departments, which will switch to the secure system only in case of emergencies and for sending sensitive information.

This network will not overlap with any of the existing telecom infrastructure or have any points of interconnection with any private operator in the country. All equipment for this network is being sourced from research agency C-DoT.