State-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has written to the defence ministry to amend the conditions for floating tenders, including having own manufacturing facility in India, for setting up alternative communications network for defence forces.
“We have written to the defence ministry for change in tender conditions as some companies have said that the current conditions are very strict,” a senior BSNL official told Business Standard.
BSNL is setting up an optical fibre cable (OFC) network for defence forces at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore, for vacation of spectrum. The company had last month issued the tender for the OFC network.
The BSNL official said there were certain clauses in the tender such as listed companies having own manufacturing facility can only bid for the tender, which has left foreign players such as DuPont out of the bidding process.
“We have only put conditions according to requirement of defence forces since they will be the one using this alternative network. Moreover, the network needs to be fully secured,” the official said.
Many of the companies have raised objections to the conditions, forcing BSNL to write to the defence ministry.
According to industry experts, the conditions are very strict, which had left out a majority of the cable manufacturers. The telecom behemoth has also sought a particular grade of optical fibre cable, which is manufactured by one or two players.
The defence ministry would vacate spectrum (2G and 3G) as and when a decision on setting up the OFC network is arrived at.
The department of telecommunications has enough spectrum to auction two slots for 3G. The third slot would be available by September and the fourth one by 2013.
