The Hindu Business Line : Air Force may soon vacate spectrum for mobile users

This is because the work for providing connectivity to the Air Force access points — as part of the Rs 1,000-crore exclusive optical fibre cable project for the three armed forces — is likely to be completed in the next 6-7 months.

The Rs 1,000-crore project entails an optical fibre cable network for the armed forces, linking crucial establishments across the country, which will enable them to shift part of their communication from the existing wireless mode to a wire line network.

This would enable defence to vacate around 45 MHz of spectrum, which can then be allocated to mobile telecom operators for wireless services.

"The project implementation has started and is already in full swing. The core network of BSNL would be utilised for providing the required bandwidth to 400 access points for the Air Force, Navy and the Army.

The road survey on aspects like the length of the optical fibre cable and the identifying points for the nodes, is also almost over," sources said.

Sources said that the trenching for the cable link will start shortly and the process is expected to be completed in a month's time at most of accessible locations.

SNL will also begin the exercise for procuring the equipment for the access network by early next month, sources said.

Networks

"In the next 6-7 months, at least one of the networks, most likely the Air Force, will be ready. This is because the Air Force has better access points and the work can be done faster.

The Army and Navy network could take 2-3 more months. So, Air Force could be the first to vacate spectrum," sources said adding, "The Defence Ministry was quick to approve the project in a record time of one-month. The Communications Minister is also keen to expedite the project," they pointed out.

State-owned BSNL would implement the project and the spectrum released would be allocated to operators for offering the existing mobile services as well as 3G (next generation mobile services) services.

With huge expansion of mobile telephony subscriber base in the country, the amount of spectrum of allocations has not kept pace with the demand, resulting in poor quality of service and congestion. With the defence vacating spectrum, such issues are likely to be addressed.

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