The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plans to seek the cabinet?s approval for paying Rs 27 billion as administrative charges to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, PowerGrid and RailTel for laying out an optical fibre network (OFC) for extending broadband services to 250,000 gram panchayats.
The three companies are responsible for the trenching work and laying out OFC cable for the NOFN project. Once the proposal is approved, DoT will disburse the administrative charges amongst these companies in the ratio of 70:15:15. Earlier, the Telecom Commission had recommended the payout to BSNL, RailTel and PowerGrid to speed up the implementation of the National Optical Fibre Network project.
The administrative charges are proposed to be computed at 16.5 per cent of the ?estimated work cost,? of the NOFN project, which is estimated to be over Rs 160 billion. The payout of administrative charges is expected to help the three state-owned companies meet their day-to-day operating expenses.
