BSNL floats global tender for latest hi-speed broadband technology

New Delhi: Netizens will soon be able to access broadband connections at speeds greater than one gigabit per second as Bharat Sanchar Nigam has floated a global tender for supply of the latest in broadband technology — Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON).

GPON is an optical fibre cable access technology for delivering high-capacity broadband service, which not only gives carriers plenty of capacity to deploy IP video services, but also leaves room for services such as high definition television.

The technology promises to offer 100 times more speed. BSNL, initially, plans to roll out one lakh lines. BSNL's move has taken market watchers by surprise as it was not expected to get into this technology since its network is copper based and GPON is based on optic fibre cables.

Experts were expecting private operators such as Reliance Infocomm and Bharti to be the first movers in this space. The deployment of this technology is in its initial stages worldwide.