NE telecom network to get a boost

NEW DELHI: The telecom and IT network in the entire North East is likely to get a boost with the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL) agreeing to provide extra and unused bandwidth on lease on its fibre to the BSNL, Minister of State for Power, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, said on Saturday.
In a letter to Rajya Sabha member Wansuk Syiem, Scindia assured that following meetings between his ministry and Ministry of Telecom it has been agreed that Power Grid will provide bandwidth on lease basis on its fibre to BSNL to ensure reliable telecom-IT connectivity to the Northeastern region.
BSNL and PGCIL will sign a commercial agreement in this regard, the Union Minister said.
Syiem had demanded that spare capacity unused by both the Ministry of Power and Defence should be made available for common use.
Both the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Defence are holding spare broadband spectrum capacity which is beyond their use and now lying idle.
Poor telecommunication services in the North eastern region, especially of the state-owned BSNL, have come in for severe criticism at several meetings convened by the Centre from time to time. During the deliberations, all the NE states dragged attention to the poor quality of BSNL services including slow internet and broadband connectivity in the region.
Considering the poor telecom network, telecom regulator TRAI recommended investment worth Rs 3000 crore for improving phone services in the Northeast where half of the villages do not have coverage.
The regulator has further recommended investment for providing seamless connectivity across National Highways in the North East region covering Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.