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The failure of major tenders worth Rs 1,460 crore relating to the laying of underground cables and integration, operation and maintenance of the 2G network, was the major cause for the stalled roll-out of BSNL’s 2G network in the north-eastern region, according to a report.
The company’s Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for the North-Eastern Region (NER) was approved by the Cabinet in September 2014.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s audit report on Communication & IT tabled in Parliament said only 10 per cent of work related to the regional trunk planning committee (RTPC) and executed by the North East Task Force, Guwahati, had been completed in Assam, while no work had happened in the NE-I and NE-II regions, with the delay ranging between 3 to 10 years.
Despite the Ministry of Home Affairs’ proposal to improve telecom services in the border areas of NER, the CAG report said there had been no progress, with the result that civilians were using spill-over signals from the neighbouring countries, posing a threat to national security and the economy.
With regard to spectrum allocation by DoT, the CAG found that re-farm spectrum and allocation of alternate frequency bands to service providers as per Spectrum Management under the National Telecom Policy 2012 for a certain range of spectrum, had not happened. “No action/ deliberation for re-farming of the 900 MHz band was initiated by Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC) of DoT. The continuing use of spectrum in these bands by the Defence had resulted in loss of opportunity cost for the nation as a whole,” the report said.
DoT also did not follow spectrum allotment in Microwave (MW) band to all service providers. The committee, constituted by DoT in 2012, proposed that service providers should be allotted MW band through auction. The CAG found that DoT had allotted the MW band on a first-come-first-serve basis. In addition, it had withheld the allotment of MWA to Access Service Providers since June 2010.
“Non-allotment of MWA spectrum to Access Service Providers despite availability has resulted in loss of revenue to the Government,” the report said.
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