India Oil Seeks License to Develop Telecoms
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Wednesday, 17 December 2008 |
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Oil India is in talks with major telecom players such as Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharti and Reliance Telecom for leasing
out bandwith capacity along its 1,157 km long pipeline network spread
across the country.
The company has applied for national long distance (NLD) license for
leasing of telecom bandwidth and is awaiting clearance from the
Department of Telecom (DoT). It has already acquired Infrastructure
Provider Category-I license for leasing out spare dark fibre and
associated telecom infrastructure facility as a part of its business
venture.
The company has already completed the process of designing,
installation and commissioning of 1,200 km of optical fibre cable
network of STM–16 capacity from Duliajan (Assam) to Barauni (Bihar)
along OIL’s row for trunk line communications. The fibre optic network
would provide broad-based telecom bandwidth network to basic and
long-distance telecom operators, internet service providers (ISPs) and
cellular operators.
Oil India currently owns and operates 1,432 km of cross-country crude
oil pipelines and is looking for further expansion of its network. “The
vast bandwith can be leased to telcos which would not hamper the
company’s core business venture,” the official said.
Oil India is the latest entrant into the telecom sector with all major
oil and gas companies including Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Gail
India already having presence in the sector. Gail has set up a
subsidiary, GAILTEL, which has been leasing bandwidth to service
providers such as Bharti Telesonic. Apart from telecom foray, Oil India
is also planning to hit the market with an initial public offer (IPO).
PetrolWorld 111208
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