Optical fibre cable network for Defence may face delays, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

NEW DELHI: The government today said the optical fibre cable ( OFC) network for Defence Services is likely to face time overruns due to litigation in procurement and difficulties over optical cable contracts.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that OFC network for Defence Services namely network for spectrum ( NFS) was approved by the government on July 3, 2012, to be completed in 36 months.

"The project is likely to have time overruns due to litigation in procurement and difficulties encountered in contracting for the main component i.e OFC," Prasad said.

The Minister said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Communications and IT Ministry (MoCIT) and the Defence Ministry for vacation of spectrum and setting up of exclusive, dedicated OFC network for Defence Services.

The Defence is slated to release the spectrum for commercial purposes.

The network is to be completed in three-and-a-half years and shall be implemented by BSNL, involving laying of around 60,000 km of OFC.

"This OFC component is critical to the completion of the whole project. This component has been divided into seven packages on a regional basis," he said.

The Minister added that purchase orders for all the seven packages were issued in July-August 2014 and tenders for all the other components for various electronic equipment are at different stages of implementation.