Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 30: Delay in supply of equipments and batteries is holding up the installation of 84 more mobile towers by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd in different areas of Jammu and Kashmir, including border belts.
Even as only two months are left for the set deadline to complete the ongoing work on the project, less than one third of the additional towers have so far been made operational till date.
Out of 120 more additional BSNL mobile towers, sanctioned for J&K by the Ministry of Telecommunication, 84 are yet to be installed as delay in supply of batteries is holding up swap and re-deployment work, official sources informed the Excelsior.
Under the project, the new equipment of ZTE is being installed in Doda-Udhampur section of the BSNL replacing the existing BTS (Basic Transmission Station) of Erickson made, which will be re-deployed and distributed across the State as per technical compliance.
Work in this regard was taken up in May 2013 in three phases with March 2014 as the deadline for completion of the project, which is worth Rs 35 crore.
According to the sources, first phase of the project is almost complete with 40 Erickson make BTS fully replaced by ZTE make new equipment in Doda area while 36 of the replaced BTS have been re-deployed in the areas of Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Rajouri and made operational.
Under the second phase, remaining 80 new BTS of ZTE have been physically installed in Udhampur but owing to delay in delivery of high capacity batteries of 2000 ampere with 12- hour back-up, these are yet to be made operational, sources said adding that the supply of some ZTE equipments was also late and the same had been made only last November.
The awaiting supply is pending control feature at BSNL Station Udhampur and thus delaying re-deployment of 84 Erickson make BTS from Udhampur-Doda Secondary Switching Area to other locations across the State, sources explained.
When contacted DGM Project (BSNL Mobile), Kamlajeet Singh Komal said that the supply of required batteries is likely to reach Jammu within days. Once the batteries are installed, the new BTS in Udhampur will become operational thus paving way for re-deployment of the old equipments in new locations as per technical compliance, he said claiming that the project would be completed timely.
The BSNL has already identified the locations where the replaced BTS of Erickson make are to be deployed. These include border belt in Jammu. Signal strength and traffic congestion are the criteria followed for identification of the area, selected for installation of BTS.
Owing to the security reasons, BTS in inhabitations along Line of Control and International Border will be oriented in such a way that their signal may not spillover across the other side, sources said.
BSNL mobile connectivity in J&K is all set to get further improved once these 84 BTS are re-deployed and made operational.
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