Page 1 of 20 EXTRACTS OF Report of the Committee on CDOT Report for USOF Scheme for provision of Mobile Communication Services in uncovered villages 5. Benchmarking issue: The committee has following suggestions for benchmarking issues: C-DoT has done all the cost estimation for bench marking purpose based upon GSM technology, however the TSPs can use any technology. (i) Power : a) Use of Renewable Energy Technology (RET) Solar will be mandatory at all locations. b) 2 days back-up for Cat-A and Cat-B and 24 hours for Cat - C. c) DG sets and SMPS have not been included for benchmarking purpose in all categories. d) The above requirements are for bench-marking purpose. Service Provider shall comply to TRAI uptime requirements by using additional power arrangements, if required. e) The committee noted that minimum power requirement for one carrier CDMA site with Omni antenna will be 400 watts (Approximately). (ii) Backhaul : C-DoT had not taken into account provision of using satellite backhaul in the absence of terrain based information. Initial estimation suggest that 25% of sites in Arunachal Pradesh/ Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 10% in Himachal Pradesh/ Jammu & Kashmir, 5 % in Maharashtra and 2% of sites in other states can be considered using VSATs. However C-DoT may further fine tune the estimation. C-DoT has proposed integrated microwave backhaul for category A1, A2 & B.. It is not mandatory for TSP to buy BTS equipment with integrated backhaul as separate links can be installed depending upon requirement. It is also important to note that despite passage of about 17 years from the advent of mobile services in the country, over 50,000 villages remained uncovered. Therefore, it is expected that in many cases more hops of microwave link may be required or satellite link (VSAT) may be needed or long OFC links may be needed to connect to the BSC of TSP. USOFA has to decide how bench marking is to be done in such cases i.e. whether
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Page 1 of 20
EXTRACTS OF Report of the Committee on
CDOT Report for USOF Scheme for provision of Mobile Communication
Services in uncovered villages
5. Benchmarking issue:
The committee has following suggestions for benchmarking issues:
C-DoT has done all the cost estimation for bench marking purpose based
upon GSM technology, however the TSPs can use any technology.
(i) Power :
a) Use of Renewable Energy Technology (RET) Solar will be
mandatory at all locations.
b) 2 days back-up for Cat-A and Cat-B and 24 hours for Cat - C.
c) DG sets and SMPS have not been included for benchmarking
purpose in all categories.
d) The above requirements are for bench-marking purpose. Service
Provider shall comply to TRAI uptime requirements by using
additional power arrangements, if required.
e) The committee noted that minimum power requirement for one
carrier CDMA site with Omni antenna will be 400 watts
(Approximately).
(ii) Backhaul :
C-DoT had not taken into account provision of using satellite backhaul in
the absence of terrain based information. Initial estimation suggest that
25% of sites in Arunachal Pradesh/ Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 10% in
Himachal Pradesh/ Jammu & Kashmir, 5 % in Maharashtra and 2% of
sites in other states can be considered using VSATs. However C-DoT may
further fine tune the estimation.
C-DoT has proposed integrated microwave backhaul for category A1, A2
& B.. It is not mandatory for TSP to buy BTS equipment with integrated
backhaul as separate links can be installed depending upon requirement.
It is also important to note that despite passage of about 17 years from the
advent of mobile services in the country, over 50,000 villages remained
uncovered. Therefore, it is expected that in many cases more hops of
microwave link may be required or satellite link (VSAT) may be needed or
long OFC links may be needed to connect to the BSC of TSP. USOFA has
to decide how bench marking is to be done in such cases i.e. whether
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single end cost of m/w link, VSAT link or OFC terminal is to be considered
or any other alternative is to be considered.
If VSAT link is used for backhaul, the link capacity will depend upon the
BTS configuration as detailed below-
BTS Category Backhaul Link Capacity Satellite Link Capacity
A 256 Kbps 128 Kbps
B 384Kbps 192 Kbps
C 768 Kbps 384 Kbps
These backhaul satellite link capacities are based on GSM technology
which can be used for benchmarking purpose.
(iii) Towers :
C-DOT has not specified any standards for Towers. It is recommended
tower design should be based on TEC GRs or as per design approved
from an organization like Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC)/
TEC/ IITs for structural fitness, safety, load bearing capacity, ability to
withstand wind speed etc.
6. Recommendations: Salient features of various Network Elements being
recommended are as below. TEC GRs may be used for reference purposes if
any key technical functional requirements as below are not adequate:
6.1 Infrastructure Recommendations against Category A, B & C along with
Assuming that there will be some charging from Solar during cloudy days also,
the battery rating can be taken as 1000 AH, i.e., two battery banks of 500 AH
each
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6.4.4 Category ‘C’
950W is the load due to the equipment of one TSP
Hours of autonomy assumed = 24 Hours
Battery Rating= (Load current * Backup Time)/(Efficiency*De-rating
Factor*Voltage) = (950*24Hrs) / (0.95*0.80*50)
= 600 AH
Assuming that there will be some charging from Solar panels during cloudy days
also, the battery rating can be taken as 600 AH, i.e., two battery banks of 300 AH
each. The 24 hours autonomy has been taken because the villages are remote
and at the same time battery capacity is to kept low for saving on CAPEX.
6.5 A set of two batteries banks with each bank conforming to the following
specifications:
Table Battery Backup Recommendations
a. Battery Capacity: Two sets of each capacity-
175 ampere hours for Category ‘A1’,
250 ampere hours for Category ‘A2’,
500 ampere hours for Category ‘B’ and
300 ampere hours for Category ‘C’ type of infrastructure
b. Type: Tubular Valve Regulated Lead Acid maintenance free battery.
c. Output Voltage: -48V for Category C/-24V for Category A & B
d. The two batteries may be connected in the load sharing mode
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6.6 Solar Panels for supporting the BTS load:
For Category ‘A1’ equipment Solar power system of 1658Wp is recommended.
For Category ‘A2’ equipment Solar power system of 2340Wp is recommended.
For Category ‘B’ equipment Solar power system of 4680Wp is recommended.
For Category ‘C’ equipment Solar power system of 6340Wp is recommended.
6.7Diesel Generator:
No Diesel Generator is recommended for all categories of BTS. Therefore cost of
DG set has not been taken for benchmarking.
6.8 SMPS:
SMPS has not been considered for benchmarking as all types of BTS will run on solar energy.
6.9 Antenna Technology Options:
An Individual Tri Sectored Cross Polarized Single Band Antenna or Omni-
directional antenna as per categorization of BTS is recommended.
The gain should be better than 9 dBi for the Omni directional antenna and 17 dBi
with 90° beam width for the sectoral antenna.
6.10Backhaul technology proposed as below:
a. Other wireless technologies like Wi-Max may also be used for backhauling.
For rugged terrains where laying OFC and getting LoS for the microwave
maybe a problem, satellite backhaul maybe used.
b. 2% of sites can be considered on VSAT backhaul with the exception of
Arunachal Pradesh & Andaman & Nicobar Islands with 25% sites; J&K & HP
with 10% of sites and Maharashtra with 5% sites being on VSAT in line with
TRAI Recommendation for Arunachal Pradesh.
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c. The percentages for VSAT at state/Circle level as indicated in para 3.1(ii) of
this report can be reconfirmed from CDOT prior to benchmarking by USOF.
7. The CAPEX calculations done by C-DoT for Category A1, A2, B and C are
available in Annexure C1, C2, C3 and C4 respectively. The total CAPEX are
given in Annexure D.
8. Other Observations:
(i) The committee noted that the existing TSPs hold spectrum in 800 MHz,
800/1800 MHz and 900/1800 MHz bands. Many of the Circle (Non-Metro)
licenses will come up for renewal in 2015, 2016/2017 before the expiry of
the contract period with USOF. The band in which the spectrum is
available with the TSP after renewal will depend on the spectrum acquired
by it in auction. There is a possibility that such band is different than the
band used for deployment of USO funded sites. To ensure continued
coverage, a suitable condition may have to be incorporated in the tender
which should also indicate that cost of change of equipment /spectrum,
etc., if any, will have to be borne by the TSP. Further, suitable provision
may also be made for inspection of sites by DOT/ USOF in case frequency
band is changed.
(ii) C-DOT has done all coverage calculations based on use of 900 MHz
band. However, the committee noted that the same coverage
requirements arrived at by C-DOT will be met even if the 1800 MHz band
is used, with the same tower height and radiated power as there is margin
available w.r.t. the coverage designed by C-DoT..
(iii) Based on the Recommendations of the Committee contained in Section 3,
4, 5 and 6 as above, C-DoT was requested to rework the estimated cost
which now comes out Rs.3611 Crores (approx.). The committee has not
gone into details of cost specifics provided by C-DoT and the figures given
above have been used for comparison purpose. The Report includes
optimization of network elements including energy efficiency and solution
are given at State Levels instead of calculated/ designed at national level.
The Recommendations have taken note of TRAI Recommendations as at
Annex A w.r.t. improving telecom services in NE states and investment
plan dated 26/09/2013.
(iv) USOF may examine the applicability of PMA related Gazette Notifications
for this project.
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(v) For the purpose of arriving at the benchmark, the equipment is taken as
based on GSM BTS. Recently, BSNL has floated tenders for a USOF
Project for Solar based low power BTS solution for LWE areas using TEC
GR (Cat 1). USOF administration may take into account tender results/
response also.
(vi) TSPs must keep provision for at least 2 mobile handset chargers in each
BTS site for enabling the customers to charge their handsets as availability
of grid supply is poor in these areas.
(vii) TSPs must ensure battery backup of 48 hours in category ‘A’ & ‘B’
and 24 hours in category ‘C’ even if different capacity equipment is
installed by them.
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ANNEXURE - A Chapter XII:- Summary of TRAI Recommendations
12.1 The Authority recommends that USOF should ensure compliance to stringent timelines and in-built penalty clauses in USO funded projects. In NOFN project, USOF/BBNL should build-in severe penalty clauses for delays in its agreements with the agencies implementing the project. At the same time, USOF/BBNL should also incentivize executing agencies in case the work is completed before the stipulated timeframe. The USOF/BBNL needs to urgently re-assess the capabilities of Railtel to carry out the project and review its decision regarding the executing agency, if necessary. (Para 1.20) 12.2 The Authority recommends that, in the first phase, 2G mobile coverage should be extended to all remaining BHQs, towns and such villages which have a population of more than 250 in the NE Region. The State-wise list of all such villages, is placed at Annexure-V. It is further recommended that after execution of the first phase, the actual number of uncovered villages should be assessed and the remaining uncovered villages should be taken up subsequently. (Para 2.30) 12.3 The Authority recommends that the overall investment requirement for the suggested comprehensive plan for covering the telecom infrastructure gaps in the North East Region states would be approximately Rs 2918 Crores. (Para 2.59) 12.4 The Authority recommends that in case a service provider covers at least 80% of the habitations having population above 250 (as per 2011 Census) in the Assam and North East LSAs, a discount of 2% of AGR in the license fee should be given to such a service provider. (Para 11.6) 12.5 The Authority recommends that PGCIL and BSNL should lease their dark fibre in the NER to other TSPs who are interested in taking fibre on lease. These PSUs ought to re-engineer their internal processes so as to quickly respond to the demands raised by other service providers and should be able to provide the requested bandwidth/ fibre on lease within two months of the raising of demand. PGCIL should immediately reduce its bandwidth leasing charges in the NER to make them comparable to those charged in other parts of the country. (Para 11.8) 12.6 The Authority recommends that bandwidth charges for providing satellite connectivity to TSPs in the NER should be subsidized through USO funds. The amount of subsidy should be restricted to 75% of the total bandwidth cost; the remaining 25% of the bandwidth cost should be borne by the TSPs. The subsidy should be limited to 1 Mbps bandwidth for connecting remote BTSs to the BSC. In case of District Headquarters which have to rely on satellite connectivity for media redundancy purposes, the subsidy amount for the bandwidth should be restricted to the bandwidth proposed for such District Headquarters in these recommendations. (Para 11.10)
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12.7 The Authority recommends that issues for allocation of spot frequencies for Microwave backhaul and clearance for setting up VSAT connectivity and BTS may be addressed on a priority basis by the WPC for the NER States and reasonable time frames (not exceeding two months) should be fixed for allocation of frequencies and providing spectrum-related clearances. (Para 11.11) 12.8 For the purpose of establishing connectivity within their respective service areas, the TSPs of North East LSA may be allowed to install microwave repeaters in Assam LSA and vice-versa. This will, however, be subject to non-interference from the other point-to-point links. (Para 11.12) 12.9 The Authority recommends that the TSPs having spectrum in the NER region should enter into Inter and Intra-Circle roaming agreements amongst themselves within a period of 6 months for all the BTSs along the National Highways that pass through NER states. In case they fail to do so, they should be so mandated by the DoT. (Para 11.13) 12.10 The Authority recommends that the Government should mandate all agencies viz. National Highways Authority of India(NHAI), Border Road Organisation(BRO), State Public Works Departments(PWD) etc involved in construction of National and State Highways to provide for infrastructure utility ducts along the Highways which can be used by companies providing utility services like telecom, power etc. for laying cables. (Para 11.14) 12.11 DoT should take up the issue of providing subsidy for installation of solar power units at telecom towers (BTS and repeater) with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). (Para 11.16) 12.12 The Authority recommends that the DoT should immediately take up this issue with Ministry of Home Affairs and DoNER to either obtain exemption for the movement of equipment and pre-identified personnel related to telecom services from the compliances of NOCs and road permits OR for establishing a streamlined system whereby a single common permit/NOC is required for the entire North East region. An option to be explored is that MHA initiate a centralized clearing system where clearances can be obtained from the concerned State Governments and given to the TSPs. (Para 11.20) 12.13 The Authority recommends that the State Governments of the NER may: a. Address the issues raised by the TSPs on priority so that they are encouraged to roll-out services faster in the region; b. Provide land for erection of Ground Based Towers(GBT) and Govt buildings for erection of Roof Top Towers (RTT); c. Ensure availability of commercial power for BTSs on priority;
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d. Facilitate availability of sufficient diesel supply to the TSPs particularly during bandhs/strikes; e. Ensure that wherever BTSs are running on DG sets they are able to run round-the-clock so that the people get uninterrupted telecom connectivity; f. Set up a single-window clearance system for all telecom related clearances/NOCs like pollution/noise control certificate, environment clearance, site acquisitions, commercial power supply etc; g. Rescind the levy of taxes/charges on the use of DGs by TSPs; h. Facilitate optical fiber cable (OFC) laying in their States by allowing pulling of OFC on Transmission towers/poles of State Electricity Boards; and, i. Nominate a senior officer to coordinate with the TSPs for handling of any issue concerning telecom services in the States.(Para 11.22)
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Annexure B: BTS TOWERS in each State Category Wise
Component Description Unit Cost (in INR) 2 TRX 2W with omni-directional antenna and
integrated backhaul
100000
Battery Bank of 2 battery of 175AH each 200000 Solar pannel (1638Wp) along with CCU 165800 Ground Based 20M 550000 SMPS 2+1 modules (25A) 0 TOTAL COST 1015800 Land & Fencing 200000 10 % Installation Charges 101580 CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges 1317380
OPTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Component Description Cost in INR Diesel Generator Set (3KVA) 0 Satellite Backhaul 300000 25% Cases in
Arunachal & Andaman & Nicobar; 10 % HP & J&K, 5 % Maharashtra, 2% Other Cases
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items
1323380
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items for Arunachal Pradesh & Andaman & Nicobar Islands with 25% VSATs
1392380
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items for J&K & HP with 10% VSATs
1347380
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items for Maharashtra with 5 % VSATs
1332380
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Annexure C 2
CATEGORY A2 & Average for Cat ‘A’ CAPEX in Rs. for each BTS Tower given by C-DoT
Category A2 Infrastructure Components' Cost Details Component Description Unit Cost (in INR) 2 TRX 5W with omni-directional antenna and integrated backhaul
100000
Battery Bank of 2 battery of 250AH each 285000 Solar pannel (2340Wp) along with CCU 234000 Ground Based 20M 550000 SMPS 3+1 modules (25A) 0 TOTAL COST 1169000 Land & Fencing 200000 10 % Installation Charges 116900 CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges 1485900 OPTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Component Description Cost in INR Diesel Generator Set (3.5KVA) 0 Satellite Backhaul 300000 25% Cases in Arunachal
& Andaman & Nicobar; 10 % HP & J&K, 5 % Maharashtra, 2% Other Cases
CAPEX for one A2 site including Installation Charges + Optional items
1491900
CAPEX for one A2 site including Installation Charges + Optional items for Arunachal Pradesh , Andaman & Nicobar with 25% VSATs
1560900
CAPEX for one A2 site including Installation Charges + Optional items for J&K & HP with 10% VSATs
1515900
CAPEX for one A2 site including Installation Charges + Optional items for Maharashtra with 5 % VSATs
1500900
With 50% of sites being Category A1 & A2 each
CAPEX for one 'A' site including Installation Charges + Optional items with 2% VSATs
1406540
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CAPEX for one 'A' site including Installation Charges + Optional items for Arunachal Pradesh & Andaman & Nicobar with 25% VSATs
1475540
CAPEX for one A site including Installation Charges + Optional items for J&K & HP with 10% VSATs
1430540
CAPEX for one A site including Installation Charges + Optional items for Maharashtra with 5 % VSATs
1402860
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Annexure C 3
CATEGORY B CAPEX in Rs. for each BTS Tower given by C-DoT
Category B Infrastructure Components' Cost Details
Component Description Unit Cost (in INR)
10W BTS with 2 TRX Omni) with integrated backhaul 350000
Battery Bank of 2 batteries of 500AH each 550000
Solar Panel (4680 Wp) 468000
Ground Based 30M 1000000
SMPS 5+1 modules (25A) 0
Total Cost 2368000
Land & Fencing 200000
10 % Installation Charges 236800
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges 2804800
OPTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Component Description Cost in INR
Diesel Generator Set (7KVA) 0 Satellite Backhaul 300000 25% Cases in
Arunachal & Andaman & Nicobar; 10 % HP & J&K, 5 % Maharashtra, 2% Other Cases
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items
2810800
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges +
Optional items for Arunachal Pradesh & Andaman & Nicobar Islands with 25% VSATs
2879800
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items for J&K & HP with 10% VSATs
2834800
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items for Maharashtra with 5 % VSATs
2819800
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Annexure C 4
Category C Infrastructure Components' Cost Details given by C-DoT
Category C Infrastructure Components' Cost Details
Component Description Unit Cost
GSM BTS Outdoor (2+2+2 configuration) along with antenna set and feeder cable 600000
Backhaul Microwave Radio 450000
Battery Bank of 2 battery of 300 AH each 300000
SMPS 2+1 modules (50A) 0 Solar Panel (6340Wp) 634000 Diesel Generator Set 10KVA 0 Ground Based Tower 40M 1350000 Total Cost 3334000 Land & Fencing 200000 10 % Installation Charges 333400
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges 3867400
OPTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE Component Description Cost in INR
Satellite Backhaul 300000
25% Cases in Arunachal & Andaman & Nicobar; 10 % HP & J&K, 5 % Maharashtra, 2% Other Cases
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items
3873400
CAPEX for one site including
Installation Charges + Optional items for Arunachal Pradesh & Andaman & Nicobar Islands with 25% VSATs
3942400
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items for J&K & HP with 10% VSATs
3897400
CAPEX for one site including Installation Charges + Optional items for Maharashtra with 5 % VSATs
4140900
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Annexure D Total CAPEX in Rs. for 16071 Category A, B & C BTS Sites