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Pune Slated to be The First 3G Enabled Indian City while DoT Delays the Bidding
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The drama around the 3G rollout in the country hardly seems to be over. The pre-bid conference for receiving the requests for proposals for the designated agency was scheduled for today. However, the pre-bid conference has been deferred till August 27 and the opening of bids has been deferred to September 22 from September 3 as decided earlier.
Despite the delay in the submission dates, the DoT has made it clear that there will be no delay in the date of identifying the agency. The bids will be finalized by September 30, in tandem with the original schedule. A Ministry spokesperson said that the delay was due to prospective bidders asking for more time.
The opening of covering letter and selection of bidders, who meet the eligibility criteria, is now also on September 22. Qualified bidders make presentation on September 24 and government will also open technical bids on this date. The financial bids of technically qualified bidders will open on September 26 in lieu of 19 of that month.
Amidst all this, Pune is all set to be the very first 3G enabled city in India. BSNL has already invested Rs 300 crore to enable over 198 city Base Transmission Stations (BTS) towers with third generation equipment, before the commercial launch around six months down the line.
According to Express India, BSNL has spotted 10 3G hot spots in the city and has planned to roll out services at 56 cities in Maharashtra, once the 3G spectrum has officially been auctioned off. According to BSNL,
“The cost of the services will depend upon the auction of the spectrum. The number of people opting for 3G services will also matter, but it will still be expensive if the spectrum is auctioned at a high price.”
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