BSNL has shortlisted three equipment vendors Siemens, Ericsson and ZTE Corporation for the first phase of its rural broadband rollout.

BSNL has shortlisted three equipment vendors Siemens, Ericsson and ZTE Corporation for the first phase of its rural broadband rollout. The rollout is part of DoT’s plan to provide broadband connectivity in 600,000 villages using finances from the USO Fund. BSNL, which is supposed to cover 60,000 villages, intends to cover 20,000 villages in the first phase and the remaining 40,000 in the second phase. According to sources, BSNL has already been allotted Rs 1.7 billion by DoT for the first phase. For the second phase, the company is likely to get Rs 1.6 billion from DoT.