RailTel Corporation of India Limited manages a unique combination of assets including a pan-India optical fibre cable (OFC) network, a data centre, a service operation centre and a commercial network operations centre with system integration strengths. With a network covering more than 62,000 route km of OFC and 6,212 stations, RailTel offers high-capacity bandwidth of up to 800G at 87 locations. Meanwhile, Power Grid Corporation of India, the fastest growing electric utility in Asia, has a 78,000 km OFC network offering connectivity across India. The two entities have been taking initiatives to scale up their OFC coverage and other offerings to build a robust connectivity infrastructure.

RailTel

Current network

Through its extensive data network, RailTel is addressing Indian Railways’ telecom and information and communications technology requirements. The company manages a vast OFC and tower infrastructure, with over 61,000 rkm of OFC along railway tracks and 1,100 towers, and offers collocation services through a 21,000 rkm citywide OFC access network.

Wi-Fi coverage

The Indian railway network has more than 6,108 stations and 18,000 access points, with 15 million monthly unique station Wi-Fi users. It is one of the world’s largest public Wi-Fi networks with 76 million total user logins per month and an average aggregated data usage of 3,324 TB per month. RailWire, RailTel’s home internet, has a unique model of local cable operators and managed service providers, alongside over 0.572 million customers and 10,673 partners across India.

Key projects

RailTel is serving as a digitalisation partner for various entities, contributing to a wide range of projects. These include hospital management information system projects, project management consultancy, master system integrator works and enterprise resource planning projects with data centre and cloud solutions. RailTel is also involved in smart city projects and the development of integrated command and control centres. In addition, its expertise extends to signalling projects, LTE and the education sector through initiatives such as smart classrooms and digital education. RailTel has also established a centre of excellence, which offers skill development programmes in railway signalling, telecom and cybersecurity.

Overcoming challenges in OFC deployment

Collaboration is essential for overcoming challenges in deploying OFC networks. It allows for the shared use of resources such as ducts, space and cooling, thus reducing costs and deployment time. Moreover, a diverse array of stakeholders, including government bodies, private companies and international partners, can achieve broader geographical coverage, particularly in rural and remote areas. Further, investment sharing is crucial due to the capital-intensive nature of OFC deployment. Furthermore, knowledge exchange among experts enhances collective technical knowledge and innovation capabilities, resulting in accelerated deployment and reduced redundancies. A collaborative approach would ensure that the benefits of digitalisation reach all sections of society, including underserved and marginalised communities, thereby fostering economic development.

Another way to overcome challenges in network expansion is getting government support through policy and regulation. Joint initiatives can better influence policymaking and expedite regulatory approvals, facilitating smoother project implementation. In addition, establishing single-window clearance in states can significantly streamline the network expansion process. Moreover, providing ducts in cities can further support infrastructure development, making it easier to deploy OFC networks.

Expansion efforts

RailTel has been expanding its network as part of the Delhi Safe City Project. Under this project, the implementation of a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and internet bandwidth system supports a comprehensive CCTV surveillance system, ensuring inexpensive and pervasive connectivity throughout the city. This initiative enhances digital inclusion among departments and citizens by providing 24×7 uninterrupted connectivity.

Further, RailTel is expanding its network through state power utility companies such as Tripura Power and Odisha Power. It also signed an MoU with Gujarat Fibre Grid Network Limited to extend fibre-to-the-home/fibre-to-the-x and other services in the state.

Additionally, the company is undertaking significant capacity upgradation and expansion plans, and investing over two billion in the expansion and enhancement of its MPLS and multi-terabit dense wavelength division multiplexing network.

Future plans

RailTel aims to penetrate new geographies by increasing the reach of signal services such as mobile train radio communication, automatic signalling and LTE, and expanding OFC in international markets such as South Africa. Further, it plans to establish cable landing stations and data centres in Vietnam, and provide in-building wireless connectivity in Bhutan.

Powergrid

Advantages of OPGW fibre

The optical ground wire (OPGW) network is a crucial communication medium for advanced power system applications such as islanding, special protection schemes, travelling wave fault locators and wide area measurement systems. It is a means of primary communication for remote substations, control centres and grid management. The OPGW network offers fast speed, reliability and cybersecurity, emerging as the most suitable media. With the rise of new data technologies and the growing telecom market, spare fibres of OPGW are also used for the telecom business, providing a strong backbone communication network both within the country and across borders.

Powergrid has formed a subsidiary, PowerTel, to utilise spare fibres from OPGW laid for power system communication in the telecom business. The company serves most telecommunication cellular service providers and major data traffic including BharatNet, national knowledge networks, internet service providers, cable TV operators and government agencies. This subsidiary is a part of the BharatNet project and provides connectivity to gram panchayats in remote locations. PowerTel uses the OFC network for new businesses and is part of the revenue sharing mechanism.

Powergrid is a pioneer in OPGW technology in the Indian power sector, having commissioned its first project in 2000 in the northern region. Since then, OPGW has been implemented for various projects in both central and state sectors. The company has laid over 0.1 million km of OPGW networks on its lines and state lines. According to the Ministry of Power’s mandate, every new line or asset must be commissioned with a power sector optical fibre network. Therefore, the growth of the OFC network in the power sector is linked to the expansion of the country’s power network.

Challenges faced

Powergrid faces various challenges. These are:

Market challenges: New general financial rules, guidelines and supply chain disruptions.

Technical challenges: OPGW cables are designed for optimal wind pressure, strength and load on towers. However, climate change is causing more severe storms and cyclones, which further damage lines and optical fibres. Moreover, designing for heavy snow zones is challenging due to snow deposition on cables, which may damage them. Additional technical challenges include salinity in the costal belt and acid rain in polluted industrial areas, which can damage the cable before the end of its useful life.

Execution challenges: Live line stringing of OPGW is challenging due to safety concerns for manpower, and the risk of line tripping due to objects entering the induction zone, which can impact line availability and grid reliability. In addition, obtaining permits to work is difficult due to power system constraints. Further, multiple clearances are required from railways, highway authorities and municipalities. Local villagers often face severe RoW issues due to pending compensation.

Operations and maintenance (O&M) challenges: India’s diverse geography requires different O&M strategies. Maintenance is conducted both off-line and live line. O&M is difficult during harsh weather conditions like heavy rain, snow and floods as they pose challenges to system availability and reliability. Frequent fibre cuts in underground fibres in municipal areas further complicate the situation.

The way ahead

Powergrid aims to lay an additional 30,000 km of OPGW network by 2030, establish new data centres across India, provide a more reliable and customer-centric telecommunication service through PowerTel, explore new security solutions for critical infrastructure and launch new technology projects for capacity upgradation and higher reliability.

Based on presentations by Dr Sunita Chohan, Chief General Manager, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited; and Anand Singh Chandel, General Manager, Value Added Business, RailTel Corporation of India Limited