Armed forces won’t release spectrum in a hurry

The armed forces may be able to switch to a dedicated optical fibre network by 2013. State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd says it will complete the project by 2012-end, paving the way for the services to release radio waves for commercial use by mobile operators.

In its status report to the Department of Telecommunications and a Parliamentary standing committee, BSNL has conveyed that the timeline for implementation of the army and navy network is estimated at three years; and the tenders for this will be finalised by August and implemented by December 2012.

The report assumes significance due to the fact that the government is already in the process of auctioning radio waves that it does not really possess. Radio spectrum is the carrier of voice signals in wireless devices and is the key for third generation or 3G services. The government has already clarified that winning bidders are unlikely to be able to launch the services till late this year.

BSNL said it has already completed a similar project for the air force, which is currently being tested. The state-owned company added that this network for the air force is smaller in scale and size than those of the army and navy. But the bulk of the 45 Mhz spectrum to be vacated (42.5MHz) will come from the air force.

The total cost of the optical fibre network for the army and navy is Rs8,098 crore, while that of the air force is Rs1,077 crore, adding up to a total cost of Rs9,175.16 crore.

The armed forces will be able to switch to a dedicated optical fibre network by 2013. BSNL will complete the project by 2012-end, paving the way for the services to release radio waves for commercial use by mobile operators.