Telecoms regulator TRAI on Monday suggested that the telecoms ministry should approach the defense ministry for access to part of its fiber optic network or suitable bandwidth to expand telecoms coverage in the far-flung areas of Himachal Pradesh.
The regulator recommended that in four districts – Lahaul and Spiti, Mandi, Kullu and Chamba – the villages that have yet to be connected under the BharatNet project should be immediately connected to VSAT media, which can be handed over as soon as the Fiber Optic Cable (OFC) backhaul is provided.
The identified districts have 181 uncovered villages, 14 of which are planned to come under the “354 villages program” and 142 under “saturation of”. 4G Mobile’ scheme from USOF. These programs still leave 25 villages without telecommunications coverage.
That Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its Recommendations to “Improve Telecom Connectivity and Infrastructure in Remote Areas of Himachal Pradesh” suggested that the Telecommunications Department (DoT) should seek the allocation of one or two OFC pairs in the NFS network to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) for expansion telecom Coverage (including broadband services) for the villages in remote or border areas of the state under the BharatNet project.
“If this is not feasible, MoD can be contacted to allocate appropriate bandwidth on its existing functional OFC to extend telecom coverage to such villages,” Trai said.
A nationwide OFC network is being implemented under the Kranti project, also known as Network For Spectrum (NFS). BSNLwith nearly 60,000 kilometers of OFC dedicated for the exclusive use of Defense Forces in lieu of the 65MHz spectrum that Defense has committed to auction by the DoT.
The regulator said it has already received a reference on enabling ICRs for remote and hilly regions, which are often prone to emergency situations due to natural disasters, and will make separate recommendations in this regard after proper consultation.
TRAI has recommended that capital expenditure (capex) and operating expenditure (opex) required to provide telecommunications infrastructure and connectivity for the 25 uncovered villages (which fall under the three revenue districts of Lahaul and Spiti, Kullu and Chamba) from the government should be financed by Universal Service Obligation Funds (USOF).
“The agency recommends that DoT take the case with the state government of HP for not charging RoW (right of way) fees from telecom service providers and IP-Is for connecting remote and hilly areas in the state including all locations in four districts.” said TRAI.
The regulator has suggested that the DoT should agree with the state government, NHAI and BRO that any road construction, road widening or other related work should have prior coordination with telecom operators and the contractor’s liability for paying damages to telecom networks should be included in the contracts from the outset.
“DoT should also engage with HP’s state government to explore the possibility of constructing utility channels on any future road widening and new road construction projects. This will contribute to a rapid rollout of all utility infrastructure, including telecommunications, in the state,” TRAI said.
The regulator has suggested that the DoT with the Himachal government should consider providing telecom sites with electricity at utility or industrial rates within 15 days of connection request and consider applying last mile installation fees for the extension of the Power connection to telecom sites in remote and hilly areas.
