BSNL Seeks Telecom Infrastructure in the Red Corridor Region

State-owned telecom operator BSNL has sought the intervention of the Department of Telecommunications to allow them to go ahead with the advanced phase of infrastructure deployment in Left Wing extremism affected states. BSNL’s Chairman Pravin Kumar Purwar in a letter to telecom secretary Anshu Prakash said the mega project should be awarded to BSNL on a nomination basis instead of giving it to private players. In May 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs had approved a massive telecom connectivity program for the Red Corridor. It involves deploying 3,465 towers at a budget of Rs 2,194.83 crore in Naxalite–Maoist affected region.

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The region covers the eastern, central and the southern parts of India with as many as ten states including Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal among others.

“The current task of provisioning of second-generation (2G) and fourth-generation (4G) technology-based mobile services at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)-identified tower locations in LWE affected areas is overlapping with the already executed project by BSNL, and it (second phase) may kindly be allotted to BSNL on nomination basis,” read the letter, reports ET Telecom.

The letter comes on the backdrop of DoT’s move to consider only 4th generation connectivity for the ambitious LWE II program. The department had floated a tender in November revising to 2G+4G services from the earlier 2G only condition. This has virtually debarred BSNL from bidding for the project since the telco lacks the necessary infrastructure.