Centre to bring in pvt companies to speed up Rs. 20.1k crore National Optic Fibre Network project.

The government has decided to bring in the private sector to speed up the Rs. 20,100-crore national broadband project to connect the far-flung areas of the country, a move that follows strident criticism that the department of telecom's (DoT) decision of involving only state-run companies has been a key reason for the three-year delay.

The DoT will shortly move a Cabinet note to mandate Bharat Broadband Networks (BBNL) to appoint an independent project management consultant that will invite bids from private players including telecom operators to handle cable laying, trenching and ducting operations across 1.5 lakh village blocks in the second and third stages of the national optic fibre network (NOFN) roll-out, a top department official aware of the matter told ET.

TOI