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We have been reporting on Shanzai.com how the Indian telecom department is going through a tough time attempting to convince the Indian Defence Ministry to release some of the 3G spectrum so that it can be used in the 3G auction. Now it seems that happy days for the Indian telecom department are coming soon!

The Defence Forces didn't want to give up the spectrum until optical fibre network is laid out. State owned Telco, BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) has been rolling out the network for quite some time and according to DoT more than 150 points have been linked so far and they hope to reach target very soon. This is great news for all the Telcos who are eagerly standing in the 3G auction queue! The operation has costed around INR 1000 crore (USD 10 billion).

“DoT had agreed to roll out the network as an alternative medium of communications for the defence in lieu of vacated spectrum. Another cable system for the army and the navy is also being planned as part of the agreement. The total cost of the project is close to Rs 9,000 crore and will be completed in 2-3 years.  According to the MoU signed by the two sides, the defence will release 25 Mhz of 3G spectrum and 20 Mhz of 2G spectrum. Of this it will immediately release 10 Mhz for 3G spectrum and 5 Mhz for existing 2G cellular services.” – Business Line.

This is not all. Another cable system for the army and the navy is also coming up which will cost the Indian government close to USD 90 billion and will be completed in the next 2-3 years.

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