BSNL contracts HFCL to 'rewire' armed forces

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) has placed an advance purchase order of Rs 1,245-crore with domestic telecom gear & fibre optic maker Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL) for building a dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM)-based optical transmission backbone network for the armed forces. The entire scope of the contract is likely to be completed within 18 months in various phases.

BSNL is managing the network for spectrum (NFS) project worth Rs 13,000 crore for defence services, in lieu of spectrum that the latter had vacated for auction of 3G services.

There are four-five portions of the NFS project like the fibre-laying part, for which a contract had been awarded two years back and currently work is on. Then, there is the electronics part for the information technology network and DWDM portion for which HFCL has emerged as the lowest (L1) bidder.

DWDM is a technology that increases capacity of a network, as it allows multiple information streams to be transmitted simultaneously over a single fibre. When contacted, BSNL Chairman & Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava confirmed placing an advance purchase order with HFCL, saying testing is on, after which a final order will be placed.

While BSNL is managing the project on behalf of the department of telecommunications, the funds for the project will come from the Centre. The NFS project, approved by the government on July 3, 2012, was to be completed in 36 months. The project involves laying of 60,000 km of fibre optic cable.