Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) plans to ask the centre for additional funding of Rs 53.54 billion to build an alternate communication networks for the armed forces, according to reports. The incumbent has exceeded its budget by 50 per cent, as it was already given Rs 91.75 billion for this project.
The telecom ministry is believed to be moving a cabinet note seeking a 50 per cent hike in the budget for this project. In December 2009, the union cabinet had approved the Rs 91.75 billion plan to build an alternate optic fibre cable (OFC) network for the defence services. The armed forces are expected to move their communication infrastructure to this network to be built by BSNL, thus freeing airwaves for commercial telephony.
The armed forces had vacated 3G frequencies in August 2010 after assurances from the centre that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) would hasten the process of rolling out this alternate network as planned. This enabled the DoT to allot 3G bandwidth to the winners of the auction on 1 Sept 2010.
