2014 02 21 dpr north east highway 2g project

8/9/2019 2014 02 21 DPR North East Highway 2G Project

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DETAILED PROJECT REPORT

FOR

TELECOM INFRASTRUCTURE AUGMENTATION

IN NORTH EASTERN STATES

Prepared by:

TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANTS INDIA LTD.

(A Govt. of India Enterprise)

TCIL Bhawan, Greater Kailash - I, New Delhi - 110 048.

Telephone: 011 - 26202020 Fax: 011 - 26242266


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Contents1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................................4

2. STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT.................................................................................................................9

3. TELECOM SCENARIO IN NORTH EAST .................................................................................................10

3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................10

3.2 The Bandwidth Bottle-Neck........................................................................................................10

3.3 Way Ahead..................................................................................................................................11

3.4 USOF Support..............................................................................................................................15

4. TRANSMISSION MEDIA PLAN..............................................................................................................16

4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................16

4.2 Status of Existing USOF Schemes in North East..........................................................................16

4.3 Need for State to State & State To District transmission Network ............................................17

4.4 Methodology of Incremental Fiber Requirement for Ring Completion: ....................................17

4.5 Details of existing Optical Fiber infra-structure:.........................................................................17

4.6 Backhaul Equipment Planning ....................................................................................................18

4.7 North Eastern Region Connectivity with rest of India ................................................................19

4.8 State to State OFC Connectivity ..................................................................................................20

Recommendation for State to State connectivity in North East ........................................................ 25

4.9 State to District Physical Ring Planning.......................................................................................26

Assam..................................................................................................................................................26

Recommendation for Assam State to District.....................................................................................35

Meghalaya...........................................................................................................................................36

Tripura.................................................................................................................................................43

Mizoram..............................................................................................................................................48

Manipur...............................................................................................................................................58

Nagaland .............................................................................................................................................63

Arunachal Pradesh ..............................................................................................................................68

Sikkim .................................................................................................................................................. 78

Details of Operator Fiber km. Existing & New ..................................................................................80

Recommendation for North East - State To District Ring Connectivity ..............................................80

4.10 CAPITAL EXPENDITURE ...............................................................................................................81


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4.11 OPERATING EXPENDITURE..........................................................................................................84

5. COVERAGE FOR UNCOVERED NATIONAL HIGHWAYS (NH) OF NORTH EAST STATES OF INDIA.........89

5.1 Introduction: ...............................................................................................................................89

5.2 Assumptions:...............................................................................................................................91

5.3 References: .................................................................................................................................91

5.4 Methodology:..............................................................................................................................91

Back haul channel ................................................................................................................................... 93

5.5 BTS Cost Details...........................................................................................................................95

5.6 Result analysis:............................................................................................................................97

5.6 Key Observation:.......................................................................................................................104

5.7 Recommendation......................................................................................................................104

6. Annexure...........................................................................................................................................105

Annexure I: Graphical Representation of Rings on Google Maps.........................................................105

Annexure II: Data of Existing OFC of Various Operators.......................................................................105

Annexure III: Details of Fiber Km of TCIL & TRAI...................................................................................105


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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction:

TCIL was approached by USOF Administrator vide Letter D.O No 30-119-1/2013 USOF dated

1st Nov 2013 for preparing a DPR in accordance with TRAI Recommendations dated Sep 2013

for Telecom Infra-structure Augmentation in the North Eastern States including Sikkim and

Assam.

TCIL studied the above mentioned TRAI Recommendations. Based on the study and various

meetings that were held with USOF officers in Nov 2013 the scope of DPR was finalized.

The three verticals addressed in this study report for North East region is as follows:

1. Providing 2G coverage to the villages that are uncovered by any Telecom Service

Provider (TSP).

2. Providing 2G coverage to the uncovered National Highway (NH) network of North East.

3. Providing redundancy and diversity for the optical media from State Headquarter (SHQ)

to District Headquarter (DHQ) and Inter-State capitals connectivity.

This report covers 2G coverage to the uncovered National Highway (NH) network and

transmission media network gap analysis for providing redundancy and diversity for the

optical media from SHQ to SHQ and SHQ to DHQ of North East Region including Sikkim, a

total of 8 States.

The key findings are the quantity and cost required for upgrading the telecom infrastructure in

North Eastern Region. The detailed of the study with quantity is given in the chapters. The

summary of estimated cost along with quantity is given below.

CAPEX ESTIMATION

The capital expenditure required to build infrastructure is done for each vertical. The study as

detailed in further chapters emphasizes on the quantity of OFC km, equipment quantity and

the no. of BTSs required.

A. Transmission Media


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CAPEX for OFC

Sl.

No.State

No. of

Districts

New OFC (km.) OFC Cost (Rs. Cr.)

Total Cost

(Rs cr.)

u/g

BSNL

Damaged aerial u/g aerial

1 Assam27 158 0 70

12.64 5.60 18.24

2

Meghalay

a11 123 0 0

9.84 0.00 9.84

3 Mizoram8 265 100 382

29.20 30.56 59.76

4 Tripura8 76 0 0

6.08 0.00 6.08

5 Manipur

9 171 0 013.66 0.00 13.66

6 Nagaland11 124 30 0

12.32 0.00 12.32

7 Arunachal16 945 0 639

75.60 51.12 126.72

8 Sikkim4 125 0 0

10.00 0.00 10.00

Total94 1987 130 1091

169.34 87.28 256.62

Note: The rate has been estimated based on the BSNL tender rate for Defense where the minimum per

Km rate has been Rs 13 lacs which includes ROW cost and stringent cable specification as per tenderrequirements. Considering lower OFC specifications and excluding ROW cost, the SITC cost for OFC has

been considered as Rs. 8 lakh per km. The per km. cost for OFC varies with the soil quality variation in

the sections especially in North East being tough terrain. Cost includes taxes and duties except Octroi

and local taxes.

CAPEX for Equipment

Sl.

No

.

State

Equipment

QuantityEquipment Cost (RS)

Total Cost

(Rs)

Total Cost

(in Rs

Crores)

OA

OADM

DXC

OA OADM DXC

1 Assam 5 24 3 2,500,000 36,000,000 30,000,000 68,500,0006.85

2Meghalay

a7 10 1 3,500,000 15,000,000 10,000,000 28,500,000

2.85


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Sl.

No

.

State

Equipment

QuantityEquipment Cost (RS)

Total Cost

(Rs)

Total Cost

(in Rs

Crores)

OA

OADM

DXC

OA OADM DXC

3 Mizoram 18 4 4 9,000,000 6,000,000 40,000,000 55,000,0005.50

4 Tripura 6 7 1 3,000,000 6,000,000 40,000,000 49,000,0004.90

5 Manipur 7 8 1 3,500,000 12,000,000 10,000,000 25,500,0002.55

6 Nagaland 4 7 4 2,000,000 10,500,000 40,000,000 52,500,0005.25

7Arunacha

l39 10 6 19,500,000 15,000,000 60,000,000 94,500,000

9.45

8 Sikkim 2 3 1 1,000,000 4,500,000 10,000,000 15,500,000 1.55

Total 88 73 21 44,000,000 109,500,000 210,000,000 363,500,00038.90

B. ESTIMATED CAPEX for 2G Highway

The capital expenditure required to build infrastructure for 2G coverage in the uncovered

national highway of NER is tabulated below. The capital expenditure has been calculated based

on the items required for setting up the BTS site which includes evaluated BTS equipment ( 2

TRX), tower & antenna, power infrastructure to support the BTS covering Solar panels, batteries

(with 3 days autonomy) as well as DG supply and backhaul equipment along with accessories.

The backhaul has been covered through Optical media assuming optical backbone is available

along the national highways.

NER has a total highway length of 8480 km out of which 1272 km (15%) is uncovered for mobile

communication. Based on the desktop study, a total no of233 BTS has been found suitably to

cover the area at a total cost of Rs 97.37 Crores.

S.N

o.

BTST

ype

-

Rounde

d

off

km.fo

r30

meterAntenna

Noof

TRX

BTSWa

ttage

Totalnumbers

ofBTS

Totalnumbers

ofBSC

Battery-Single

unit

Solarpower-

SingleUnit

DG Set-Single

Unit Unit Costof Sitein Lakh

INR

Cost of Sitewith respectto BTS Type

in Rs croresAH Watt KVA

1 A 5 2 1+1 150 144 6 417 1333 0.69 37.80 54.43

2 B 10 3.25 1+1 200 89 4 521 1667 0.87 48.25 42.94

Total Cost Estimate (In Rs. Crore)97.37


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Note: The CAPEX calculated above does not include survey cost therefore, 10% additional costs on the

estimated CAPEX is to be considered.

The above cost calculation was made taking into consideration the following item heads.

1. BTS with BSC and OMC-R (micro equipment)

2. Power (considering less available Grid power)

Battery (3 days autonomy)

Solar (6 hr sunshine)

Diesel Generator

3. Tower (Mast type)

4. Backhaul (Optical)

5. Miscellaneous Items like Transportation, Site preparation, Installation etc

OPEX

On an average OPEX per year can be taken as 20% of capex cost. Such cost includes AMC,

manpower, drive test and optimization, regular site maintenance, diesel etc.

C. Comparison with TRAI Report:

StateTotal KM Uncovered KM No of BTS

TRAI TCIL TRAI TCIL TRAI TCIL

Arunachal

Pradesh 2302 1992 1218597

122 119

Assam 3954 2836 94131

10 23

Manipur 959 959 173211

18 34

Meghalaya 810 810 040

0 9

Mizoram 927 927 874

1 12

Nagaland 494 494 101187

10 29

Tripura 400 400 37 28 4 6

Sikkim 624

1

Total 9846 8480 16311272

165 233


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Based on the above following may be noted:

1. TCIL has estimated 233 BTS against TRAI estimation of 165 BTS. This is attributed to TRAI

report considering10Km per BTS whereas TCIL has estimated the BTS based on an average

6 Km per BTS / 3 Km per BTS based on the topography.

2. TRAI report indicates uncovered NH distance of 1631 km against TCIL desktop estimation

of 1272 km as detailed in subsequent chapters.

3. 1090 Km of National highway data of Arunachal Pradesh was not available on NIC GIS

which was part of TRAI report.

4. Estimation of BTS for 1090 km of NH stretch of Arunachal Pradesh has been extrapolated

considering 3 Km per BTS as assumption.

5. Total number of BTS estimate to cover 1272 Km stretch of National highways has been

estimated to be 233 at a cost of Rs. 97.37 cr.


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2. STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT

The broad structure of report is as follows:

Chapter 1 provides executive summary of the study carried out. It briefly explains the key

results arrived after doing analysis.

Chapter 2 defines the structure of the report.

Chapter 3 details the generic Telecom status of NE region and various technologies evolving to

address telecom needs.

Chapter 4 details the Transmission Media requirement between State to State rings and State

to Districts ring connecting all eight North Eastern states of India including Assam, Arunachal

Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim. While analyzing

incremental CAPEX it was assumed that the network Between District Headquarters and Blocks

of each state is already subsidized by USOF and the network below Blocks upto Gram Panchayat

are subsidized under NOFN project. The study has been done to ensure connectivity, Capacity

and reliability of Transmission media in above mentioned eight North Eastern States.

Chapter 5 reports on the requirement for the 2G uncovered areas of National Highways of

North East, India. Sikkim state was also included in the study report. Total length of NH studied

was 8480 Km out of which 1272 Km i.e. 15% was found uncovered by any service provider.

GSM 900MHz was taken as reference for study.


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3. TELECOM SCENARIO IN NORTH EAST

3.1 Introduction

The country has seen a phenomenal growth in the availability of economical telecom

services. People from all sections of the population are now using mobile telephone and

accessing the internet for viewing/retrieval of information and e-mail.

However, in respect of growing tele-density, the urban-rural divide continues. The

Government of India is determined to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas in

respect of telecom services, because access to voice and data services will play a crucial

role in the overall development and growth of the rural areas.

3.2 The Bandwidth Bottle-Neck

The transport system in North Eastern States is inadequate on many counts to carry thepresent/future levels of rural traffic. The shortcomings include insufficient multiplex

capacity, some areas not having OFC connectivity, use of radio media having inherent

bandwidth/spectrum constraints, and, self-healing path protection is not available.

The existing networks are undergoing upgradation/expansion by the various operators

but this is in response to the growing commercial requirements, however, such

expansion would not be undertaken with the objective of increasing infrastructure in

anticipation of data traffic requirements that would arise in future years in remote and

rural areas also because the software applications are also to be developed and setup

for the traffic to arise.

The solution to inadequate capacity mentioned above, is to deploy appropriate

transport technology in intra-district transport network that will provide cost-effective

high capacity. This network will also meet the futuristic requirement in terms of

technology and the demand for various applications/services.

Other Challenges in rolling out Telecom Network in North East

Terrain Difficulties

ROW permissions

Inadequate Power availability

Infrastructure Issues


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3.3 Way Ahead

a. 4G - LTE

The way ahead is the new LTE based 4G based technologies which are already deployed

in many countries. Instead of 2G & 3G based towers and equipments, the new

infrastructure should be based on 4G where the tower deployment is easier and

cheaper. It is all the more required in remote places like NER where space, power and

funds are constraints as 4G offers solutions addressing all these issues. The 4G BTS are

very small in size and require very less power for operation, approx. 20W. Moreover,

they can be installed on poles rather than towers. The 4G network is also roll back

network i.e., it supports 3G, Edge, GPRS as well as 2G. The 4G network is based on LTE-

Advanced - 3GPP Long Term Evolution. LTE is a series of upgrades to existing UMTS

technology and will be rolled out on existing frequency band.

Therefore in remote areas where CAPEX is an issue along with power availability, theoperators should look at 4G option to make their networks it future proof.

b. Active Infrastructure sharing

Shared RAN is a concept in which one or more licensed mobile services operators agree

to share the radio access network of a third party infrastructure provider, for providing

the mobile telephone services in accordance with their license terms and conditions.

The licensed operator would still own the core network and would continue to own and

manage it. The backhaul/transmission system could be on Optical Fibre Cable medium

or Microwave or alternative media/technology and used on a shared basis.

Sharing of passive infrastructure is already taking place between Mobile Service

Providers on mutual agreement basis, and, third party infrastructure providers are also

setting up passive infrastructure (BTS sites) for sharing by licensed mobile service

providers who pay rental/leasing charges to such third party infrastructure providers.

7289 towers i.e. about 99.13% have been set up under shared mobile infrastructure

scheme. The infrastructure so created is being shared by three service providers for

provision of mobile services. 15209 BTSs have been commissioned by Service Providers

and mobile services are being provided. This is as per 12

th

five year plan for Telecom.This results in reduced up-front cost of setting up BTS infrastructure for the service

providers since the passive infrastructure cost component is a major proportion of the

total cost of setting up a wireless network.

The sharing of active infrastructure is the logical next step, and the Department of

Telecommunications (DOT) has now allowed sharing of active infrastructure amongst


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service providers based on mutual agreements entered amongst them. It is pertinent to

mention that DOT guidelines exclude from sharing the allocated spectrum. The active

network allowed to be shared is limited to antenna, feeder cable, Node B, Radio Access

Network and transmission system only.

Cost savings

Active infrastructure sharing results in both CAPEX and OPEX savings for the sharing

operators.

It is known that passive sharing allows operators to share costs of passive infrastructure

which is estimated to be almost 60% of the BSS cost. In case of active sharing because

the BTS equipment, antennas and feeders are additionally shared, the CAPEX savings for

operators shall be more. However multi-operator equipment and antennas are more

expensive than traditional RAN equipment. But with increased deployment of shared

RAN, the production costs may drop in future.

Also the common equipment platform results in less power consumption and reduced

maintenance costs.The additional savings that may be obtained on account of shared

RAN over passive infrastructure sharing may be estimated from a break-up of site CAPEX

structure.

Item of Site CAPEX (%)

Real Estate 28%

Labor cost/civil/ installation 30%

Base Station 22%

Antenna & feeder 10%

Power supply 5%

Others 5%

Total 100%

From above table it is seen that base station and antenna system account for about 32%

of site CAPEX and depending upon the number of sharing operators, significant cost

savings of appx. 25% may be obtained for each operator.


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In case of OPEX the savings shall arise from (a) lease/rental of passive infrastructure

since less space is required to accommodate more operators, and, (b) maintenance and

power consumption. The breakup of operational expenses for RAN have been estimated

as follows-

Item of Site OPEX (%)

Rental/Lease 40%

Backhaul 22%

Maintenance 20%

Others incl. power consumption 18%

Total 100%

Since all above expenses will get shared, the savings in OPEX are expected to be

significant up to appx 10% to 15% of OPEX per operator.

Commercial basis

The commercial basis of sharing should take into account (a) recovery of investment

made by the third party infrastructure provider in a reasonable period, (b) the annual

operational expenses, and, (c) reasonable returns to sustain and grow the business as

also make reasonable profits.

Factors supporting Shared RAN

Shared RAN may be seen as a new phase of the mobile industry, wherein through the

consolidation and sharing of the radio access network the operators shall be able to

improve coverage in a faster and more efficient manner than if each operator was to

roll-out own network. It is also expected that the operators shall be able to provide

more types of specialized services in this process.

The various factors that are expected to drive the deployment of shared RAN services in

India include the following:

Government Teledensity outlook:

The Government is having ambitious targets to raise the tele-density in remote/ rural

areas and seeing the remarkable growth, as per 12th Five year plan.

Pressure for cost reduction:


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In view of the low ARPU, the rollout of mobile networks can only be supported on a

strategy of minimizing the cost and time of rollout of the network. The sharing of mobile

infrastructure is the only way to cut down the cost (especially for new operators). As

discussed above, passive infrastructure sharing is already taking place in a big way and

the sharing of active infrastructure in light of the recent TRAI guidelines shall be the nextbig thing.

Entry of new players and expansion plans of existing operators:

Several major operators, who had been operating more on regional basis, have received

licenses as well spectrum in new circles, which would enable them to extend their

operations on pan-India basis. Also, new licenses have been issued to players such as

Unitech, Swan Telecom, and S Tel Limited. Given the significant expansion plans of new

entrants over the medium term and the need for them to optimize investments in order

to maintain returns, demand for cell-sites is expected to significantly increase. The new

entrants are likely to participate in this shared RAN services since they have to counter

the competition from entrenched players in an environment of low returns.

Technological Consolidation:

The shared RAN represents an opportunity for existing operators to optimize and

consolidate their BSS infrastructure in urban and metro areas on a common, high-

capacity and scalable platform (including wide-band and efficient IP transmission

network) which shall support the variety of services under 3G/4G with the associated

higher bandwidths / data-rates. The technological advantage coupled with the necessity

of cost savings makes shared RAN solution equally attractive in semi-urban and ruralareas.

4G Spectrum Allocation:

It is felt that the process of 4G spectrum allocations may be completed sometime this

calendar year. The telecom industry is anxiously looking forward to the same. It is

expected that in the initial phase 4G services will be marketed in metro and major cities.

However, the cost of migration to 3G/4G remains an important aspect and the shared

RAN network can be one of the solutions for economizing the cost. New technologies to

further stimulate demand: In order to augment their services, various operators may

plan for providing 4G as well as Wi-Max services as soon as they receive additional

spectrum from Government.

Energy Saving:

The shared RAN provides the method of overall reduction of BTS/towers which is in-fact

becoming a necessity from the view point of environment and energy saving.


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Shorter Rollout time:

Since the mobile industry is highly competitive, the new entrants face a greater

challenge from incumbent operators already having widespread network, established

brand name and large subscriber base. Third party active infrastructure providers can

provide the economical cost and rollout time advantage which may prove critical forbusiness success of the newer entrants.

3.4 USOF Support

Recognizing that present/near-term revenue derived from carriage of rural/remote area

traffic on the augmented/expanded network may not be adequate to attract the

required quantum of investment, USOF intend to provide financial subsidy support by

way ofpercentage of capital recovery for the five years towards cost of rollout of the

district OFC networks in the North East Area. In present report we are calculating the

investment required (CAPEX) for building the augmented network.

The OFC network up-gradation/expansion in the various states is required to enable the

integrated development of USOF supported service streams, especially the creation of

general infrastructure and induction of new technological developments in the telecom

sector in rural and remote areas, and therefore qualifies for financial support from USOF

under the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2006.


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4. TRANSMISSION MEDIA PLAN

4.1 Introduction

The transmission media plays a key role in carrying the bulk data traffic from node to

node. The need for investment in the transmission media in NER has been realized afterthe study conducted by USOF under various schemes both for wireless and wire line. In

one such scheme of USOF for District Headquarter to Block Headquarter connectivity on

Optical fiber in a ring topology of 2.5 Gbps upgradable to 10Gbps, the detailed OFC

planning had been done and a business plan for Assam & North East had been prepared

by TCIL as consultants to USOF. The financial gap between capital recovery vis-a-viz net

revenue realized over a period of years was estimated. This gap was recognized by

USOF, and the subsidy was provided through tenders floated for DHQ to BHQ

connectivity in NER and Assam so as to facilitate telecom operators to rollout the

network and mandatorily share it in regulated manner with other operators. BBNL has

also addressed this issue Block downwards i.e. OFC connectivity from Block to Gram

Panchayat.

4.2 Status of Existing USOF Schemes in North East

The projects of OFC connectivity in North Eastern region, below district level have been

assigned to BSNL &RailTel and the work is in progress. The status briefly is as follows:

Status of Project Scheme/ Project Current Status

DHQ BHQ

connectivity on OFC

in ring topology.

USOF Assam

Tender

302 blocks out of 353 has been

commissioned by BSNL under this scheme.

Subsidy amount 100Cr

USOF North East

Tender

Survey has been done in 6 North eastern

states by RailTel and rollout has been

initiated. Subsidy amount 484 Cr approx.

USOF - Sikkim Study has been completed as a part of West

Bengal telecom circle. USOF is yet to float a

tender. For this report TCIL has assumed

that no fund has been allotted for Sikkim

yet.

BHQ Gram

Panchayatconnectivity

BBNL Assam Block to Gram Panchayat FTTx / GPON

network has been planned by the threeexecuting agencies in these states viz.,

Assam, Arunachal, Nagaland, Tripura,

Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur and Sikkim. A

fund of approx 20000 Cr for pan-India

rollout has been sanctioned to BBNL.

BBNL - North EastBBNL-Sikkim


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4.3 Need for State to State & State To District transmission Network

The transmission network as stated in the table above i.e. districts downwards is

building up under USOF schemes & BBNL project, it is realized that with emergence of

3G based applications, video on demand and digital era, huge amount of data shall be

generated by the growing telecom subscriber base. To cater to this voluminous data, arobust network is required from state to district and further inter-state. This study

focuses on the State to state and state to district part of the transmission network of

NER identifying the gaps in the physical connectivity and capacity wise as well.

4.4 Methodology of Incremental Fiber Requirement for Ring Completion:

Keeping the data available in TRAI Recommendations as the baseline, approach

followed is as given below:

1. Identify the state / district headquarters of North Eastern Region states on a map, as per

the latest data available. This was done using freeware Google Earth.

2. Study of existing fiber network , the references from TRAI, NIC, PGCIL Telecom Network,

RailTel Network, BSNL planning sheets having existing and planned fiber information of

operators in Assam & North East are taken.

3. A physical ring is planned considering the geographical factors i.e. roads, terrain and

river etc. on Google earth both for state to state and state to district for all 8 states of

NER.

4. The gap in the existing and new fiber required to complete the ring is identified. The

new sections are analyzed against the sections in which subsidy is already provided

under various USOF schemes for Assam & North East Scheme for District To Block HQconnectivity in ring topology.

5. The Sections so identified after above mentioned steps are tabulated against the rings

for each State.

6. In addition to the incremental fiber identified above, a provision of 10 km. fiber is taken

for inter-operator PoP to PoP connectivity and in case of new sections also, a 10 km.

provision is kept for coiling, termination, and maintenance purposes.

4.5 Details of existing Optical Fiber infra-structure:

The media augmentation for fiber redundancy and diversity needs to be planned

keeping the total existing infra-structure of various service providers in mind and

identifying the existing fiber that can be used while planning the diversity and

redundancy. The existing fiber routes are referred from TRAI Report (BSNL Network),

PGCIL telecom network (PGCIL website), RailTel telecom network (RailTel Network ppt

&USOF NE) data available with TCIL regarding existing OFC of various Service Providers

and NIC database.


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4.6 Backhaul Equipment Planning

The physical gaps are analyzed above and the backhaul equipment planning addresses

the capacity requirement in the rings planned as explained above. The rings are planned

considering existing optical fibre network of all the operators since the network is to be

augmented keeping in mind to avoid redundancy of transmission media on same routeby different operators.

Effect of Existing USOF Scheme

In USOF schemes adequate measures are taken to cover the above high lease costs.

Following deliverables are expected from BSNL and RailTel in Assam and North East

respectively:

1. The operator shall build, operate, own and manage all the equipment/infrastructure for

the intra district augmented/created OFC transport network.

2. The operator shall be responsible for complete augmented and created bandwidth in

the district wise OFC networks, covering both existing routes/sections,

utilized/upgraded as well as new sections. This responsibility shall be on continuous

basis and will extend to all aspects of the scheme viz., roll-out and commissioning,

operation and maintenance, and providing bandwidth on sharing basis.

3. During the validity of the agreement, at least 70% of the subsidized bandwidth capacity

shall be made available by the host operator to other service providers for utilization, on

sharing basis at discounted tariff as prescribed in the agreement.

4. The discounted tariff for Assam is 26.22% of current TRAI ceiling rate i.e. minimum

discount of 73.78% on the current TRAI Ceiling tariffs for various bandwidth and

distance slabs.

5. The discounted tariff for NE-I circle is 12% and for NE-II is 27%. i.e. minimum discount of

88% on the current TRAI Ceiling tariffs in NE-I Service Area and minimum discount of

73% on the current TRAI Ceiling tariffs in NE-II Service Area.

6. The discount is valid on the subsidized bandwidth, provided on lease to other operators,

in the OFC transport network from SDHQ-SDHQ, having both the ends in same district or

in different districts.

7. The discounted tariff is applicable till the agreement period continuous between USOF

and BSNL for Assam and USOF and RailTel for NE respectively.

From above it can be concluded that if BSNL and RailTel has to ensure the bandwidth

from any District to any District and they have to share it with other operators at a

discounted rate as prescribed in their respective agreements. But their mandate is to

ensure ring architecture between DHQ and SDHQ. From SDHQ of one district to SDHQ of


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another district, they have to only ensure a path, not a protected path. Hence for

redundancy in path between State HQ to District HQ, plan has already been proposed

above. It is assumed that 2.5G ADM are available at all DHQs as it is one of the

deliverables to ensure ring of minimum 2.5G expandable to 10G.

State to State & State to District Ring Design

The SDH ring design with an interconnected multi-ring architecture overlaid over an

optical mesh network or on Optical physical network as planned in state-wise physical

rings above. The no. of wave lengths required in any logical ring, is calculated using the

additional bandwidth requirement from the TRAI report. The logical rings consist of

Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (OADM) and Digital Cross Connects (DXC). OADM is

placed on nodes where a part of traffic is dropped, some traffic is inserted and the rest

is passing through. Digital cross connects are used to cross connect inter ring traffic

between multiple rings where inter ring traffic is defined as the set of demands suchthat source node belongs to one ring and the destination node belongs to other ring.

Optical Amplifiers (OA) are placed where only signal regeneration and pass through is

needed.

A state-wise equipment plan is formulated and the lease charges wherever required

shall be extra. We are also assuming that the existing system present is 2.5G SDH is just

sufficient to cater to existing traffic need of blocks below DHQ and a separate

equipment shall be planned at DHQ for SHQ to DHQ ring. In order to meet the

requirement of increasing bandwidth demand on the basis of various applications,

DWDM needs to be deployed.

From above it is analyzed that at least 40 lambda, 2.5G, DWDM system shall be

required. The Digital Cross Connect (DXC) is planned at all the state Headquarters and at

those District HQs where two or more rings are interconnecting. A provision of one

OADMat each District Head Quarter is taken while planning. In new sections, an Optical

amplifier (OA) is placed at every 40 km. distance for regeneration of signal. In a ring,

when there is an inter operator switching of traffic, an OA is planned at interconnection

point. An OA is also planned at nodes other than DHQ in the ring which are at the end

points of new section. The equipment projections on the rings are analyzed in therespective tables of state.

4.7 North Eastern Region Connectivity with rest of India

Assam state is the gateway to the northeastern part of India. It is surrounded by the

other northeastern states: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura

and Meghalaya. Assam along with these 6 states, together called the seven sisters.


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These states are connected to the rest of India via Assam's border with West Bengal and

a narrow strip called the "Chicken's Neck."

Redundant Connectivity of Guwahati with Rest of India (Chicken Neck)

Traffic Routing of North East State And Assam through Kolkata

All the telephone traffic generated by BSNL and other operators in these Seven Sisters

State has to be brought to Kolkata for further routing through the Tax Network. The

entire NorthEastState telecommunication OFC link with rest of India must pass through

this Chicken Neck Area. At present, the distance between Kolkata and Agartala in

India's landlocked northeast is a staggering 1,700 km Incase of disruption in this route

there is no alternate land route.

Moreover, distance wise this is a long route, subject to greater number of faults. During

any emergency, the telecommunication is solely dependent on satellite communication,which is not cost effective as well as is a low speed with narrow bandwidth. The OFC

medium would offer a better future solution in terms of expansion of bandwidth

capacity.

In the TRAI report referred, it is mentioned that the OFC route Bongaigaon Guwahati

Nagaon (350km) which connects Guwahati to the rest of India has been damaged

beyond repair due to road widening work and therefore may be funded. It is to mention

that subsidy for the same has already been provided in USOF Assam scheme and this

section will also get covered indirectly while connecting these districts with theirrespective sub-districts.

4.8 State to State OFC Connectivity

The state to state ring connectivity is seen w.r.t Guwahati, where all the traffic routes

and table below shows physical ring from Guwahati to the six NE states & Sikkim. It is

seen that in most cases existing OFC connectivity is available on BSNL. Some key

sections are available on PGCIL, which is a robust & reliable being OPGW network. The

network of RailTel& Oil India (reference TRAI report) is also present as redundant path

on some sections. There are only two new sections from Dhemaji to Dibrugarh and

Khowai to Kamalpurin Tripura identified , where new fiber need to be laid for ensuring

state to state interconnectivity , the CAPEX for same is accounted in the respective state

tables.

The equipment upgradation planning is done in all State to Districts rings. A Digital Cross

Connect is planned at each State Capital which is equipped with high capacity OADMs.


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The DXC shall be adequate for State to State rings and shall work as an interconnect

between State to state ring and State to District ring. No additional equipment is

required at State Head Quarters. Hence, Capex requirement in terms of equipment

upgradation is nil in State to state connectivity as it is already covered in State to District

rings.


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Table 1: State to State Proposed Rings

S.

No.

State

HQ to

State

HQ

Ring Proposed new OFC

(Km)

Operator Presence Reference Remarks

1

Guwah

ati to

Itanaga

r

Option 1

Guwahati- Baihata -

Mangaldai - Rowt -

Dekhiajuli - Tejpur - Balipara

- BCL Halem - Gohopur -

Itanagar- Naharlagun -

Nirjuli - Bandardewa - North

Lakhimpur - Gogamukh -

Dhemaji - Silapather -

Dibrugarh - Moran -

Sibasagar - Gaurisagar - Teok

- Jorhat - Numaligarh -

Bokakhat - Kaziranga -

Kuwaritol - Nagaon -

Mahadevgaon - Guwahati

The CAPEX and km

pertaining to this ring

are covered in State to

District ring of Assam

as the only uncovered

portion (Dhemaji

Dibrugarh (70km)coincides with the

district to district ring

of Assam.

BSNL is present from Guwahati

to Dhemaji to Silapather.

From Dhemaji to Dibrugarh

OFC of any operator (BSNL,

RailTel and PGCIL) is not

present, and Brahmaputra

river is in mid way, hence

aerial OFC is prposed in thissection.

From Dibrugarh to Guwahati

BSNL existing fibre is present. KML 1

Dhemaji to

Dibrugarh 70

km stretchon

Brahmaputra

river and

subject to

construction

of bridge

across. The

ring length is

very large for

Itanagar ring

connectivity

with

Guwahati.

Hence

Option 2below is

more

appropriate.

Option 2

Guwahati - Baihata -

Mangaldai - Rowt -

Dekhiajuli - Tejpur - Balipara

- BCL Halem - Gohopur -

Itanagar -Tejpur -

Bongaigaon - Guwahati 0 Km

Guwahati to Itanagar section is

Existing fibre of BSNL.

Itanagar to Tezpur to

Bongaingaon to Guwahati

section has an alternate

redundancy through PGCIL. KML 2

PGCIL return

path offers

reliable &

better Ring

redundancy.


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S.

No.

State

HQ to

State

HQ


(Km)


2

Guwah

ati -

Shillong-Silchar

-

Imphal

-

Kohima

-

Dimapu

r -

Guwah

ati

Option 1

Guwahati- Pathankhana -

Mairang - Shillong- Jowai -

Kalain - Silchar - Jiribam -

Tamenglong - Kangkopi -

Imphal- Ukhrul - Kohima-

Sechu - Dimapur- Bakulia -

Nagaon - Motapahar

Guwahati

0 km

BSNL is available in entire

route.

PGCIL is available in following

sections:

Guwahati - ShillongShillong - Silchar

Silchar - Imphal (planned)

Imphal - Dimapur

Dimapur - Tezpur - Bongaigaon

- Guwahati

Alternate routes are present

for the following:

Guwahati - Shillong via

Nongpoh.

Kohima - Dimapur via Nuland

Dimapur to Nagaon via

Numaligarh KML 3

3

Silchar -

Agartal

a -

Aizawl

Silchar

Silchar - Karimganj -

Patharkandi - Dharamnagar -

Kamalpur - Khowai -

Mohanpur - Agartala-

Salema - Ambassa -

Manughat - Aizwal- Serken -

Kolasib - Silchar

Only a small section of

the ring is uncovered,

which is covered as a

part of State to District

ring of Tripura.

Silchar - Karimganj -

Patharkandi - Dharamnagar -Kamalpur : BSNL existing.

Kamalpur - Khowai: New OFC

Proposed (included in Tripura

state to district).

Agartala - Salema - Ambassa :

BSNL and PGCIL present.

Ambasa - Manughat : BSNL

present.

Manughat to Aizwal: PGCIL

present. KML 4


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S.

No.

State

HQ to

State

HQ


(Km)


Aizwal to Silchar: BSNL OFC

present.

This is also to mention that

PGCIL has planned OPGW fromAizwal to Kolasib which may

be considered after checking

latest status from PGCIL.

4

Guwah

ati -

Gangto

k

Option 1

Guwahati- Rangia -

Padhshala - Bongaigaon -

Coochbehar (WB) - Jalpaiguri

- Siliguri - Gangtok- Melli -

Siliguri - Bongaigaon

Guwahati

0 km

Guwahati - Rangia - Padhshala

- Bongaigaon - Coochbehar

(WB) - Jalpaiguri - Siliguri -

Gangtok : BSNL present

Gangtok - Melli - Siliguri -

Bongaigaon - Guwahati: PGCIL

present

OFC of OIL India is also

available from Guwahati -

Dharampur - Barpeta Road -Kokrajhar - Madarighat

Siliguri KML 5

The referenced KML files are placed in Annexure-1


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Recommendation for State to State connectivity in North East

The state to state connectivity analysis has been done and it is analyzed that BSNL OFC

network is existing from state to state in NER region. However, redundancy on these

existing routes is critical as these are bulk traffic carrying routes and generally NER has

difficult terrain so any fiber damage / cut may take long time to repair.

With this perspective, PGCIL OPGW network along high power transmission line is very

reliable option, it is connecting all state capitals with Guwahati. The details are provided

in Table above. As mentioned in TRAI report, PGCIL is not leasing dark fiber but only

providing bandwidth and the tariff on these NER routes is also relatively high. This issue

may be dealt by calculating the financial gap and providing subsidy to PGCIL on these

specific routes. It is essential to create a level playing field in NER and encourage

operators to enter in NER. At the same time PGCIL may reduce its bandwidth leasing

charges to other operators, hence, to reduce unnecessary incremental OFC layout for

redundancy network and to utilize the existing OFC in best way USOF may suitably

provide subsidy support to existing operators for the same to promote improvement of

telecom infrastructure in North Eastern states.

The analysis of the redundancy and capacity for state to state ring is done and the

strategy is tabulated below. As such no infrastructure gap is seen. The issue is high

Bandwidth lease charges and non-availability of dark fiber by operators with existing

infrastructure like BSNL & PGCIL in NER.

S.No State to State

Connectivity

CAPEX

Requirement

Operator Presence

1 Assam - Arunachal

Pradesh

NIL BSNL & PGCIL fiber is existing from

Guhawati to Itanagar. It is presumed

that under the recent BSNL & PGCIL

agreement, the PGCIL section is available

to BSNL.

2 Assam - Meghalaya-

Manipur - Nagaland

NIL BSNL fiber is existing connecting the

state capital Guwahati, Imphal, Shillong,

& Kohima.

3 Assam (Cachar

District) - Tripura-

Mizoram

NIL (36km fiber

covered in Tripura)

The ring as a sub ring from Silchar

(Assam Cachar district) is envisaged on

BSNL & PGCIL fiber to connect Silchar

Agartala-Aizawl - Silchar. A small section

from Kamalpur Tulashikhar (36 km.)

appears to be non existing (can be

checked with RailTel).


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4 Assam Sikkim NIL BSNL & PGCIL fiber is existing from

Guhawati to Gangtok.

Note: The above CAPEX requirement includes cost of OFC (supply + service). The provision of

CAPEX for Equipment upgradation is kept in state to district rings and the same system

shall suffice the requirement of state to state rings.

4.9 State to District Physical Ring Planning

The study of state to district connectivity in ring topology is done for Assam, Sikkim and

the six North Eastern state and it is seen that mostly BSNL is present and many

uncovered sections are already funded in USOF Assam & NE scheme. However, RailTel&

BSNL need to expedite the rollout of fiber in the NER and adhere to the timelines given.

The incremental quantity of OFC length as analyzed in table below for State to District

ring completion is subject to completion of the USOF Assam & NE scheme.

Assam

The Assam state has 27 districts, and the study is done w.r.t to state head quarter

district headquarter connectivity in ring on OFC, considering the existing fiber of various

operators. The gaps identified are from

1) Dhemaji to Dibrugarh (70 km) - This is subject to completion of bridge on

Brahmaputra river as also mentioned in TRAI report. This section is important from

point of view of state to district ring connectivity in Assam. Survey may be done to get

the actual length of underground fiber and aerial fiber over Brahmaputra river.

2) Silchar to Diphu - On this section, in parts BSNL(Silchar to Udarband existing),

Habagajao Maibang (subsidy provided in USOF Assam Scheme) andRailTel (Dihu to

Lumding) is present.The new section length is estimated as Udarband(Cachar)

Harangajao (North Cachar)59 km and Maibang- Lumding79.1km, the total length is

138 km. The detailed ring covering the connectivity & redundancy is tabulated in Table 2

and the respective KML files are placed at KML-6 to KML 8 in Annexure 1.

The capacity enhancement of these rings is done by equipment planning on 40 lambda,

2.5 G DWDM rings , the methodology is explained in 4.6 section.


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Table 2A: State Headquarter to District Headquarter OFC Connectivity (Assam)

S.N

o.

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Existing

Section

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

ssam

ae

toDistrict(ASD)

RING

1 1

Guwahati -

Goalpara -

Baitamari (BTM) -

Bilasipara (BLSP) -

Dhubri -

CoochBehar (COB) -

Kokrajhar -

Kajalgaon -

Bongaigaon -

Barpeta Rd -

Nalbari - Rangia -

Guwahati 9

Kamrup,

Kamrup

(metro),

Goalpara,Dhu

bri, Kokrajhar,

Chirang,

Bongaigaon,

Barpeta,

Nalbari Entire ring BSNL TRAI Nil

Kajalgaon is

DHQ ofChirang

district, and it

is very near (10

km) to

Bongaigaon.

Therefore it is

presumed that

as per TRAI

information

and USOF

Assam tender

reference,

Kajalgaon is

connected on

this ring with

Guwahati. ASD 1

Guwahati-

Pathshala-

Barpeta Rd-

Bongaigaon-

Kokrajhar OIL TRAI

Guwahati -

Kahelipara-

Bongaigaon PGCIL

PGCIL

Websi

te


28/106

28 |P a g e

S.N

o.

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Existing

Section

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

ssam

ae

toDistrict(ASD)

RING

Guwahati -

Chayagaon-

Duphdhara-

Goalpara-NewBongaigaon-

Kokrajhar-

Bijni- Barpeta

Rd - Nalbari

Guwahati RailTel

RailTel

SDH

ppt

2 2

Guwahati -

Baihata(BHT) -

Mangaldai (MLD)-

Tezpur-

N.Lakhimpur -

Dhemaji -

Dibrugarh - Tinsukia

- Duliajan - Sonari -

Sibsagar - Jorhat -Marianil - Golaghat

- Nagaon- Marigaon

- Guwahati 11

Darrang,Sonit

pur,

Lakhimpur,

Dhemaji,

Dibrugarh,

Tinsukia,

Sivsagar,

Jorhat,Golaghat,

Nagaon,

Marigaon

Guwahati -Dhemaji &

Dibrugarh -

Guwahati BSNL TRAI

Dhemaji-

Dibrug

arh

TRAI

& NIC

70

km

Nagaon -

Marigaon -

Guwahati is

existing

section as per

NIC. It isshown as

planned in

TRAI Report. ASD-2

Guwahati-

Nagaon -

Jorhat-

Duliajan OIL TRAI

Guwahati-

Bongaigaon-

Tejpur- Nagaon PGCIL

PGCIL

Websi

te


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29 |P a g e

S.N

o.

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Existing

Section

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

ssam

ae

toDistrict(ASD)

RING

Guwahati-

Sikoni- Jorhat-

Moran-

Tinsukia-Namrup-

Mariani-

Furkating-

Sarupatahr-

Dimapur-

Diphu-

Lumding-

Lanka-Jagi

Road-

Guwahati RailTel

RailTel

SDH

ppt

3 3

Guwahati - Shillong

- Jowai - Karimganj -

Hailakandi - Silchar

- Haflong - Diphu -

Guwahati 5

Karimganj,

Hailakandi,

Cachar,

Haflong,

Diphu

Guwahati -

Shillong - Jowai

- Karimganj -

Hailakandi -

Silchar BSNL

TRAI

& NIC

Silchar

-

Udarba

nd(Cachar)

Harang

ajao

(North

Cachar

)59km

Haflon

g

Maiba

TRAI ,

USOF

Assam

Sche

me,

NIC

138.

1 km ASD-3


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30 |P a g e

S.N

o.

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Existing

Section

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

ssam

ae

toDistrict(ASD)

RING

ng(cov

ered in

USOF

Assam)-

Lumdin

g

79.1km

Guwahati-

Kahelipara-

Shillong -

Khlerihat-

Badarpur -

Silchar PGCIL

PGCIL

Websi

te

Guwahati-

Digaru-Jagi rd-

Chapramukh-

Lanka-Lumding-

Diphu -

Tinsukia-

Dibrugarh-

Jorhat-

Guwahati RailTel

RailTel

SDH

ppt

4 4

Guwahati - Nagaon

- Musalpur -

Tamulpur - Udalguri

- Guwahati 2

Udalguri,Baks

a

Guwahati -

Musalpur &

Guwahati -

Udalguri BSNL TRAI

Udalguri &

Baksa will get

connected in

ring through ASD-2


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31 |P a g e

S.N

o.

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Existing

Section

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

ssam

ae

toDistrict(ASD)

RING

their Block

Headquarters

under USOF

Assam Tender.Subsidy

already

provided.


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Table 2B: State Headquarter to District Headquarter Equipment Planning (Assam)

Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisio

n Inter-

Operato

r &

coiling

etc

OFC

Operato

r

Equipment

Required

Remarks

Existing NewU/g or

AerialOA DXC

ASD 1

Guwahati - Goalpara -145

BSNL1 DXC at Guwahati,

Nagaon, Nalbari

Goalpara -

Baitamari (BTM)

-

47.5

BSNL

RailTel, OIL & PGCIL

also there on cerain

section of this ring

Baitamari (BTM)

-

Bilasipara (BLSP)

- 42.3

BSNL

Bilasipara (BLSP)

- Dhubri - 43.6

BSNL

Dhubri -

CoochBehar

(COB) 80.4

BSNL

CoochBehar

(COB) - Kokrajhar - 144

BSNL

- Kokrajhar - Kajalgaon - 31.6 BSNLKajalgaon - Bongaigaon - 10 BSNL

Bongaigaon - Barpeta Rd - 50.3 BSNL

Barpeta Rd - Nalbari - 68.3 BSNL

Nalbari - Rangia - 20 BSNL

Rangia - Guwahati 54.7 BSNL

ASD 2 Guwahati - Baihata(BHT) - 189 BSNL


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Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisio

n Inter-

Operato

r &

coiling

etc

OFC

Operato

r

Equipment

Required

Remarks

Existing NewU/g or

AerialOA DXC

Baihata(BHT) -Mangaldai(MLD)-

201

BSNL

RailTel, OIL & PGCIL

also there on cerainsection of this ring

Mangaldai

(MLD)- Tezpur- 94.6

BSNL

Tezpur- N.Lakhimpur - 206 BSNL

N.Lakhimpur - Dhemaji - 69.4 BSNL

Dhemaji - Dibrugarh -70

aerial New2

aerial km. subject to

survey

Dibrugarh - Tinsukia - 47.7 BSNL

Tinsukia - Duliajan 26.7 BSNL

Duliajan - Sonari - 66.8 BSNL

- Sonari - Sibsagar - 47.1 BSNL

Sibsagar - Jorhat - 58.7 BSNL

Jorhat - Marianil - 17 BSNLMarianil - Golaghat - 39.9 BSNL

Golaghat - Nagaon- 153 BSNL

Nagaon- Marigaon - 56.9 BSNL

Marigaon - Guwahati 78.9 BSNL

ASD 3

Guwahati - Shillong - 99.6 BSNL

Shillong - Jowai - 67.3 BSNL

Jowai - Karimganj - 160 BSNL

Karimganj - Hailakandi - 61 BSNL

Hailakandi - Silchar - 43.7 BSNL


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34 |P a g e

Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisio

n Inter-

Operato

r &

coiling

etc

OFC

Operato

r

Equipment

Required

Remarks

Existing NewU/g or

AerialOA DXC

Silchar - Udarband 18.7 BSNL 3 Note 1

Udarband Harangajao 59 10 u/g New

Harangajao Haflong 42 BSNLHaflong Maibang 50 BSNL

Maibang Lumding 79 10 New

Lumding Diphu 39 RailTel

Diphu Nagaon 143 BSNL 1

Nagaon Guwahati - 127 BSNL

ASD 4

Guwahati - Nalbari - 141 BSNL 1

Nalbari - Musalpur - 240 BSNL

Musalpur - Tamulpur - 42 BSNL

Tamulpur - Udalguri - 79.9 BSNL

Udalguri - Guwahati 128 BSNL

3572.6 208 20 Total 5 3

No. of DHQs 27

No. of DXC 3 DXC at Guwahati, Nagaon, Nalbari

No. of OADM 24

No. of OA 5


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Recommendation for Assam State to District

The analysis of Assam State to District ring shows that BSNL is the dominant operator. It has

already existing OFC covering all the districts and most sub-districts under USOF Assam project.

As per the project mandate the lease tariff is reduced on these sections. The State to District

gap in Assam for the fiber & equipment is nominal and BSNL may be directly given subsidy

being dominant operator to complete this gap and mandated to provide bandwidth on lease at

reduced tariff.


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Meghalaya

Meghalaya state Headquarter is Shillong and has 11 districts, which includes four new

districts formed after 2011 census. The detailed study for the ring connectivity between

Shillong and District Headquarters is done using freeware Google earth and existing

fiber information from TRAI report under reference and the details of planninginformation conducted for USOF North East Scheme in which rings were formed

between District to Block HQ on fiber.

In Meghalaya all the district headquarter are connected to Shillong in five rings on BSNL

existing fiber and on the gap sections are already considered while USOF NE planning

wherein these sections are subsidized and to be executed by RailTel.

One new Section of 53 km from Riangdo to Bokois proposed and shall provide

additional redundancy to four rings envisaged.

The various rings are tabulated in Table 3 and the respective KML files are placed at KML

9 to KML 12 in Annexure 1.

The capacity aspect on these rings are done by equipment planning on 40 lambda, 2.5 G

DWDM rings and repeater distance of 40 km is taken on new sections. The methodology

is explained in Section 4.6 Backhaul equipment planning.


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Table 3A: MEGHALAYA STATE TO DISTRCT OFC RING ANALYSIS

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

Ex

istingSection

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Le

ngth

Remarks

M

eghalayaState

to

District(MSD

Ring)

1

Shillong - Jowai-

Khliehriat - shillong 3

East Khasi

Hills, West

Jaintia, East

Jaintia

Option 1

Shillong - Jowai -

Khliehriat BSNL TRAI

MSD-

1

Khliehriat

Shillong PGCIL

PGCIL

Website

Option 2

Shillong -

Mawryngkneng -

Jowai - Dawki -

Pynursala-

Langkyrdem-

Shillong BSNL TRAI

Dawki-

Pynursla , to

be executed

by NETF as

per TRAI

Jowai- Amlarem-

Lakadong- Rymbia-

Khliehriat- Jowai RailTel

Jowai-

Khlierihat

-Lakadong

Ring in

USOF NE

Plan

Subsidy

allocatedunder USOF-

NE scheme

for this

section.

2

Shillong- Nongpoh -

Guwahati - Borjhar-

Patharkhama-

Mairang -Shillong 1 Ri Bhoi Option 1

Ring (partly BSNL

present) & partly

covered under

USOF NE tender

planning

BSNL

&RailTel

TRAI,

USOF NE

Plan

Subsidy

allocated

under USOF-

NE scheme

for this

MSD-

2


38/106

38 |P a g e

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

ExistingSection

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

MeghalayaState

toDistrict(MSD

Ring)

section.

3

Shillong -

Pongjhung -

Mawkyrwat-

Nongstoin-Mairang

- Shillong 2

West Khasi

Hills, South

West Khasi Option 1 Ring Existing BSNL TRAI

MSD-

3

4

Shillong -

Pongkhung-

Mawkyrwat-

Noongstoin-

Riangdo-

WilliamNagar -

Songsak-

Resubelpara-

Krishnai- Dudhnoi-

Boko-Guwahati-

Nongpoh - Shi llong 5

East Garo

Hills, North

Garo Hills,

West Khasi

Hills, South

West Khasi,

Ri Bhoi Option 1 Existing Ring BSNL TRAI

Ring via

Assam

MSD-

4


39/106

39 |P a g e

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

ExistingSection

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

MeghalayaState

toDistrict(MSD

Ring)

5

Shillong- Nongstoin

- Williamnagar-

Baghmara-

Mahendraganj -

Ampati -

Garobadha - Tura -

Mendal -

Resubelpara -

Dudhnoi - Boko -

Guwahati-

Nongpoh - Shi llong 5

East Garo

Hills, West

Garo Hills,

South West

Garo Hills,

South Garo

Hills, North

Garo Hil ls Option 1

Ring (partly BSNL

present) & partly

covered under

USOF NE tender

planning

BSNL

&RailTel

TRAI,

USOF NE

Plan

Ria

ngd

o-

Bok

o

53

km TRAI

Ring existing

on BSNL

except

Mahendraga

nj -

Barengpara

and Rewa -

Nongalbibra

sections

which are

covered in

USOF NE

planning

&subsidized.

MSD-

5

Riangdo-

Boko, new

sectionproposed will

provide

additional

redundancy

for ring no.

2,3,4,5

above.

Note

Section, Mahendraganj - Barengpara , Rewa- Nongalbibra &, Rongram-Williamnagar as suggested in TRAI report are also covered in USOF NE

planning and therefore subsidized.


40/106

40 |P a g e

Table 3B: MEGHALAYA STATE TO DISTRCT EQUIPMENT PALNNING

Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisio

n Inter-

Operato

r &

coiling

etc

OFC

Operator

Equipment Required Remarks

Existin

gNew

U/g or

AerialOA DXC

MSD 1

(option

1)

Shillong Jowai 65 BSNL 1

DXC at Shillong

Jowai Khliehrait 31.8 BSNL

Khliehrait Shillong 95.8 10 PGCIL

MSD 2

Shillong Umsning 30 BSNL

DXC of Guwahati

taken in Assam

Umsning Nongpoh 21 BSNL

Nongpoh Umling 13 10

BSNL,

RailTel 1

Umling Umkadhor Rd 39 Railtel

Umkadhor Rd Mairang 54 10 BSNL 1

Mairang Shillong 46 BSNL

MSD 3

Shillong Ponkjhung 53.8 BSNL

Ponkjhung Mawkyrwat 21.9 BSNL

Mawkyrwat Nongstoin 37.8 BSNL

Nongstoin Mairang 49.4 BSNLMairang Shillong 45.8 BSNL

MSD-4

Shillong Pongkhung 53.8 BSNL

Pongkhung Mawkyrwat 21.9 BSNL

Mawkyrwat Nongstoin 37.8 BSNL

Nongstoin Riangdo 43.8 BSNL

Riangdo WilliamNagar 101 BSNL

WilliamNagar Songsak 30.3 BSNL

Songsak Resubelpara 39.8 BSNL


41/106

41 |P a g e

Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisio

n Inter-

Operato

r &

coiling

etc

OFC

Operator


Existin

gNew

U/g or

AerialOA DXC

Resubelpara Krishnai 21.6 BSNL

Krishnai Dudhnoi 13.2 BSNLDudhnoi Boko 47.7 BSNL

Boko Guwahati 65.8 BSNL

Guwahati Nongpoh 49.3 BSNL

Nongpoh Shillong 51.1 BSNL

MSD-5

Shillong Nongstoin 94.7 BSNL

Nongstoin Williamnagar 141 BSNL

Williamnagar Nongalbibra, 22 BSNL

Nongalbibra, Rewak 38 10 Railtel

1

Rewa -

Nongalgipara

(Railtel USF NE)

Rewak Baghmara 24 10 BSNL 1

Baghmara Barenghpara 53 BSNL

Barenghpara

Mahendragan

j 50 10 Railtel

1

Mahendragan

j Ampati 28 10 BSNL 1

Ampati Garobadha 22.8 BSNL

Garobadha Tura 28.2 BSNL

Tura Mendal 60.8 BSNL

Mendal Resubelpara 25.7 BSNL

Resubelpara Dudhnoi 26.8 BSNL

Dudhnoi Boko 47.7 BSNL


42/106

42 |P a g e

Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisio

n Inter-

Operato

r &

coiling

etc

OFC

Operator


Existin

gNew

U/g or

AerialOA DXC

Boko Guwahati 65.8 53 u/g BSNL 1

Boko - riangdo -

New (53 km.subsection)

Guwahati Nongpoh 49.3 BSNL

Nongpoh Shillong 51.1 BSNL

Total 2010.3 53 70 0 7 1

No. of DHQs 11

No. of DXC 1 DXC at Shillong

No. of OADM 10

No. of OA 7


43/106

43 | P a g e

Tripura

The Tripura State has Headquarter at Agartala and has 8 districts, including four new

districts formed after 2011 census. There are 3 rings envisaged from Agartala to its

districts which are covered on BSNL fiber and some new sections are already

subsidized through USOF NE-1 tender.

A new section required to connect ring between Districts HQ Khowai, Kaliashahar, &

Dharamnagar is from Kamapur Tulashikar (36 km) This section is also identified in

the state to state rings for connectivity from Shillong to Agartala to Aizawl but cost of

this section is taken here.

The rings are tabulated in Table 4 and are represented in KML 13 to KML 14 in

Annexure 1.

The capacity aspect on these rings are done by equipment planning on 40 lambda,

2.5 G DWDM rings and repeater distance of 40 km is taken on new sections. The

methodology is explained in Section 4.6 Backhaul equipment planning


44/106

44 |P a g e

Table 4A: Tripura State to District OFC ring

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

Existing

Section

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

TripuraState

toDistrict

(TSDRing)

1

Agartala -

Birendranagar-

Ambassa-

Gandarchara-

Amarpur-

R.K.pur(Udaipur

) - Bisramganj -

Agartala 4

West

Tripura,

Dhalai,

Gomati,

Sipahijal

a Option1 Existing Ring BSNL

TRAI, USOF

NE planning TSD-1

2

Udaipur -

Amarpur -

Karbuk -

Rupaichari -

Satchand -

Hrishiyamukh -

Belonia

Udapiur 1

South

Tripura Option1

Partly BSNL

existing &

remaining

covered in

USOF NE

planning

TRAI, USOF

NE planning

New

Sections

are

subsidized

in USOF NE

Tender

TSD-2

3

Agartala -

Mohanpur -

Khowai

Tulashikhar -

kamalpur -

Kailashahar-

Dharamnagar-

Kumarghat -

Ambassa- 3

Khowai,

Unakoti,

North

Tripua Option1

Partly Existing

on BSNL &

rest covered

in USOF NE

Tender

i.e.,Khowai-

Kamalpur

BSNL, USOF NE

Tender

TRAI, USOF

NE planning

Kamalpur

-

Tulashikar

TRAI,

USOF NE

Planning

36k

m TSD-3


45/106

45 |P a g e

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

Existing

Section

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

TripuraState

toDistrict

(TSDRing)

Agartala

Option

2

Agartala-

Khowai-

Kamalpur-

Ambassa -

Agartala

BSNL, USOF NE

Tender

Kamalpur -

Ambassa-

Kumarghat-

Dharamnagar

-Kailashahar-

Kamalpur

Kailashahar-

Dharamnagar

-Kumarghat -

Kailashahar

Option

3

Agartala-

Kumarghat PGCIL


46/106

46 |P a g e

Table 4B: Tripura State to District Equipment Planning

Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisi

on

Inter-

Opera

tor &

coilingetc

OFC

Operat

or

Equipment

Required

Remarks

Existing NewU/g or

AerialOA DXC

TSD-1

Agartala Birendranagar 17.4 BSNL

1

DXC at

Agartala,

Ambassa,

udaipur,

Amarpur

Birendranagar Ambassa 66.4 BSNL 1

Ambassa Gandarchara 53.3 BSNL

Gandarchara Amarpur 35.5 BSNL 1

Amarpur

R.K.pur(Udaip

ur) 26.3 BSNL 1

R.K.pur(Udaipu

r) Bisramganj 19.9 BSNL

Bisramganj Agartala 32.4 BSNL

TSD-2

Udaipur - Amarpur - 26.3 BSNLAmarpur - Karbuk - 28.2 BSNL

Karbuk - Rupaichari - 68.2 10 RailTel 1

Rupaichari - Satchand - 22.1 RailTel

Satchand -

Hrishiyamukh

- 40.6 RailTel

Hrishiyamukh - Belonia - 18.4 10 BSNL 1

Belonia - Udaipur - 38.7 BSNL

TSD-3 Agartala - Mohanpur - 23 BSNL


47/106

47 |P a g e

Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisi

on

Inter-

Opera

tor &

coiling

etc

OFC

Operat

or

Equipment

Required

Remarks

Existing NewU/g or

AerialOA DXC

(option 1) Mohanpur - Khowai - 34.1 10 RailTel 1Khowai - Tulashikhar 35.9 10 BSNL 1

Tulashikhar kamalpur - 36 New 2

to check

with RailTel

kamalpur - Kaishahar 27 BSNL

Kailashahar-

Dharamnagar

- 33 BSNL

Dharamnagar- Kumarghat - 40.2 BSNL

Kumarghat - Ambassa- 68.7 BSNL

Ambassa- Agartala 82.6 BSNL

TOTAL 838.2 36 40 6 4

No. of

DHQs 8

No. of DXC 4No. of

OADM 4

No. of OA 6


48/106

48 | P a g e

Mizoram

The Mizoram State HQ is Aizawl and it has 8 districts in it. The terrain is hilly and road

connectivity to district headquarter is only feasible through NH. In many cases, alternate paths

are not available, therefore aerial cable is the only way to ensure redundancy in such locations.

The analysis for Aizawl to district HQ has been done, 4 districts namely Serchhip, Lunglei,

Lawngtlai and Saiha are connected with Aizawl in ring and sub rings formed through Serchhip

(MZSD - 1to 4), in which two new sections from (Lawngtlai - Saiha (58km) &Sangau -

Hnaihthial (62km) i.e total 120 km is proposed.

The other three districts i.e. Champai, Kolasib and Mamit are either partly or fully connected on

OFC and to ensure redundancy for these district headquarters aerial fiber is only way because

of lack of alternate route.The actual requirement of Underground OFC or OPGW orADSS cable

can be assessed only after a detailed field survey.

The new sections suggested to connect these 3 districts in ring with Aizawl are as follows:

1) Underground OFC - Aizawl - Lengpui- Mamit, UG OFC (95 km), Aizawl Champai

(100km){BSNL damaged section, reference TRAI report}

2) Aerial OFC Aizawl- Champai (207 km) , Aizawl Mamit (95km) and Aizawl Kolasib (80 km).

The actual length of aerial fiber may be less and is subject to a site survey. For budgetary

estimation same length as of underground fiber is taken.

The details are given in Table 5 below and the rings are represented in KML 15 to KML 20 at

Annexure 1.

The capacity aspect on these rings are done by equipment planning on 40 lambda, 2.5 G

DWDM rings and repeater distance of 40 km is taken on new sections. The methodology is

explained in Section 4.6 Backhaul equipment planning.


49/106

49 |P a g e

Table 5A: Mizoram State to District OFC Ring

RingNo.

Ring

N

o.

ofdistrict

N

ameof

D

istricts

Route

Redundancy

ExistingSection

O

perator

Reference

N

ewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

M

izoramS

tate

to

District

(M

ZSDRing)

1 Aizawl -

Tlangnuam-

Aibawk -

Serchhip -

Thingsulthliah

- Aizawl

2 Aizawl, Serchhip Option 1 Aizawl -

Sechhip ,

covered under

USOF NE

planning

BSNL TRAI , USOF NE planning Entire ring

except

Chingchip to

Serchhip(whi

ch was BSNL

existing then)

has been

considered in

NE planning

and subsidy

provided.

MZSD-1

2 Lunglei -South

Lunglei -

Buarpui -

Serchhip -Lunglei

2 Lunglei Serchhip Option 1 USOF NE

planning

RailTel USOF NE

Planning

Ring 2 is

connecting

with Ring 1

via Serchhip.This connects

both Lunglei

& Serchhip

with Aizawl in

ring

redundancy.

The entire

ring covered

under USOF

MZSD-2


50/106

50 |P a g e

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

ExistingSection

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

MizoramS

tate

toDistrict

(MZSDRing)

NE planning.

3 Lawngtlai -

Diltang S-

Chawngte -

Lungsen -

Lunglei -

Tawipui-

Lawngtlai

2 Lunglei,

Lawngtlai

Option 1 USOF NE

planning

RailTel USOF NE Planning Ring 3 is

connecting

with Ring 1 &

Ring 2 via

Serchhip &

Lunglei. This

connects

Lunglei,

Serchhip and

Lawngtlai

with Aizawl inring

redundancy.

The entire

ring covered

under USOF

NE planning.

MZSD-3


51/106

51 |P a g e

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

ExistingSection

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

MizoramS

tate

toDistrict

(MZSDRing)

4 Lunglei -

Lawngtlai -

Saiha - Sangau

- Hnaihthial-

Lunglei

3 Saiha. Lunglei,

Lawngtlai

Option 1 Saiha- Sangau

via Bualpui

RailTel USOF

NE

Plannin

g

Lawngtlai

- Saiha

(58km )

& Sangau

-

Hnaihthi

al (62km)

120 km MZSD-4

5 Aizawl -

Thingsulthliah

- Saitual -

Kawlkulh -

Khawzawl-

Champai

1 Champhai Option 1 Aizawl -

Thingsulthliah

(Covered

under USOF

NE ) - Saitual

(Existing

BSNL) -

Kawlkulh -

Khawzawl -

Champai(BSNL Existing

& Khawzawl -

Kawlkulh in

USOF NE

Scheme)

BSNL ,

RailTel

USOF

NE

Tender

, TRAI#

Aizawl to

Champai

TRAI

Report

100km A part of this

is existing

BSNL section

and damaged

as per TRAI

report. USOF

may take a

call to fund

this section

or not.

MZSD-5


52/106

52 |P a g e

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

ExistingSection

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

MizoramS

tate

toDistrict

(MZSDRing)

Aizawal -

Champha

i, Aerial

fiber.

207 Km Aizawl to

Champai

under ground

is covered by

BSNL and

some

sections are

already

subsidized

through

USOF NE

Tender.

Because of

non-

availability of

roads,

Redundancyto Champai

from Aizawl

can only be

obtained

through

Aerial Fiber.

The distance

207 km is

linear and for


53/106

53 |P a g e

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

ExistingSection

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

MizoramS

tate

toDistrict

(MZSDRing)

ADSS fiber,

the actual

distance may

be less.

6 Aizawl -

Lengpui-

Mamit

1 Mamit Option 1 Aizawl -

Lengpui-

Mamit,

UG OFC

TRAI,

USOF NE

planning

95 km No fiber

directly from

Aizawal -

Mamit

appears

neither of

BSNL nor in

USOF NE .

Therefore,both

Underground

and aerial

connectivity

to Mamit is

required for

ring

redundancy.

MZSD-6


54/106

54 |P a g e

RingNo.

Ring

No.

ofdistrict

Nameof

Districts

Route

Redundancy

ExistingSection

Operator

Reference

NewSections

Reference

Length

Remarks

MizoramS

tate

toDistrict

(MZSDRing)

Aizawl -

Lengpui-

Mamit,

Aerial

Fiber

TRAI,

USOF NE

planning

95km

7 Aizawl -

Kawnpui -

Kolasib

1 Kolasib Option 1 Aizawl -

Kawnpui -

Kolasib

BSNL TRAI ,

USOF

NE

plannin

g

Aizawl -

Kawnpui

- Kolasib,

Areial

fiber

80 km Aizawl to

Kolasib is

existing BSNL.

For

redundancy

ADSS along

the same

route is

planned.

MZSD-7


55/106

55 |P a g e

Table 5B: Mizoram State to District Equipment Planning

Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisio

n Inter-

Operato

r &

coilingetc

OFC

Operator

Equipment Required

Remarks

Existing NewU/g or

AerialOA DXC

MZSD 1

Aizawl - Tlangnuam- 5.2 RailTel 1

Tlangnuam- Aibawk - 25 RailTel

Aibawk - Serchhip - 73.7 RailTel

Serchhip - Chhingchhip 28.1 10 BSNL 1

Chhingchhip

Thingsulthlia

h 34.7 BSNL

Thingsulthlia

h Aizawl 43.7 BSNL

MZSD 2

Lunglei -

South

Lungdai 44.2

RailTel 1

South

Lungdai Buarpui - 36.2

RailTel

Buarpui - Serchhip - 64.7 RailTel 1Serchhip - TuiChang 29.5 RailTel, BSNL

TuiChang Lunglei 129 RailTel, BSNL

MZSD 3

Lawngtlai - Diltang S 58.2 RailTel 1

Diltang S Chawngte 30.3 RailTel

Chawngte Lungsen - 101 RailTel

Lungsen - Lunglei - 61.2 RailTel

Lunglei - Tawipui- 50.2 RailTel


56/106

56 |P a g e

Ring

No.From To

OFC Distance

(Km)

Provisio

n Inter-

Operato

r &

coiling

etc

OFC

Operator

Equipment Required

Remarks

Existing NewU/g or

AerialOA DXC

Tawipui- Lawngtlai 32.5 RailTel

MZSD 4

Lunglei - Lawngtlai - 82.7 RailTel

Lawngtlai - Saiha - 58 10 New 1

Saiha - Sangau - 82.4 RailTel

Sangau - Hnaihthial- 62 10 New 3

Hnaihthial- Lunglei 68.5 RailTel

MZSD 5

Aizawl -

Thingsulthlia

h 43.4 BSNL, RailTel

100 km

BSNL

OFC

damage

d

Thingsulthlia

h Saitual -

BSNL

damaged

Saitual - Kawlkulh - 100

BSNL

damaged 4

Kawlkulh - Khawzawl- 34.9 BSNL, RailTel

Khawzawl- Champai 41.3 BSNL

Champai Aizawl - 207

to be laid on

aerial, 207 isroad

distance

2014 02 21 dpr north east highway 2g project

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