Arunachal Pradesh tower project in limbo

Mobile phone connectivity in far-flung areas of Arunachal Pradesh appears to be still some time away with the deployment of telecom towers stuck in a blame game between the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), a wing of the telecom department, and the executing arms – Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and sub-contractor Vihaan Networks Ltd. (VNL).

The USOF has blamed homegrown gear maker VNL of using "substandard technology" in the government-aided telecom connectivity initiative in the Northeast, and has stopped releasing funds to BSNL. The telco and home-bred telecom equipment maker VNL have rejected the charges.

The USO-funded initiative, being executed by BSNL through VNL, involves installation of 1,893 mobile towers in the rough terrain of Arunachal Pradesh.

On December 19, lawmaker Ninong Ering wrote to telecom minister Manoj Sinha and urged him to ensure USOF releases the requisite capital to BSNL to avoid further delay, and also fast track the project. ET has reviewed a copy of the letter.

But USOF administrator Sanjay Singh told ET that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was concerned about the quality of technology being deployed.

"Anything in the name of home-made technology should not be deployed in a government project unless it meets international standards," Singh said.

VNL founder-chairman Rajiv Mehrotra also refuted the accusation of deploying outdated technology or hardware, and said that their telecom equipment goes through a series of rigorous tests aimed at installation in inhospitable conditions.

“We have a strong track record with negligible complaints as far as our equipment is concerned,” Mehrotra said, adding that vested interests were unfairly targeting India’s homegrown equipment manufacturing company by spreading falsehood to derail the project which was vital for connectivity and security of the region.

In the meanwhile, a public interest litigation (PIL) was also filed by Prashant Bhushan on behalf of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Supreme Court, alleging wrong doing in the project.

Ering had followed up the PIL with a letter to the PMO - a copy of which is with ET - alleging the technology used by the domestic firm was outdated and procured at a higher-than-usual cost. He had said, “…the state of Arunachal Pradesh should not be made dumping yard in the name of technology.”

In his latest letter, the Lok Sabha member said that the initiative should be accelerated so that the state residents could get telecom connectivity.

BSNL, on its part, in its reply to the SC plea, highlighted that the initial scope of the contract awarded by USOF was for use of 2G technology, which in May 2018 was widened to include 4G as well. But the contracts to VNL had been given by then.

Due to the continued absence of telecom infrastructure, some of the subscribers in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh latch onto Chinese mobile signals on their handsets and also receive messages from China-based telecom networks every time they turn their phones on.