USOF gives Rs 12,850-crore connectivity programs to private companies

Despite BSNL's countless letters in a bid to upturn its revenues, the telecom department's Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) has apparently come under dock for awarding contracts to private telecom operators, following the inclusion of 4G mandate.

The aspiring programs to connect India's unconnected villages worth Rs 12,850 crores have been offered to private service providers Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio by telecom department's service fund, blocking the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) due to its revival.

The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is a Rs 58,000-crore reserve to fund rural and remote digital connectivity. Telecom service providers pay 5% of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) towards the USOF levy.

Last year, both Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio were awarded with Northeast - I and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) -II programs worth Rs 1,255-crore and 2,211-crore to deploy 1,511 and 2,542 telecom sites with a rollout deadline of 18 months. It is said that only a few surveys have been conducted so far.

In the last few years, the USOF turned hostile to the ailing telco, and awarded mega initiatives such as to cover 354 uncovered villages to Jio, and subsequently to deploy 889 sites in Meghalaya to Bharti Hexacom in 2020.

Rakesh Kumar Bhatnagar, Former Advisor - Technology at the Department of Telecommunications, said that the government should review all USOF-driven projects, and undertake a technical audit to ascertain the number of locations covered. Bhatnagar cautions that all the government-funded projects to deploy mobile networks are being undertaken by foreign equipment vendors, and eventually allowing 100% infrastructure ownership to private players.