Laying underground cables is costing the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) at least 25 times more in Pune than in other cities. This has hit all expansion plans for the telecom company in the city. In Pune,the cost to lay underground telephone cable is costing the BSNL Rs 44 lakh per km. In neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad,it costs BSNL Rs 56 lakh per km. In comparison,in Hyderabad,the BSNL would have to pay the local civic body only Rs 1.8 lakh per km. The disparity increases when compared to Chennai where the cost is Rs 9,400 per km per year. Even if the underground cables lasted 10 years,it would work out to around Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for BSNL in Chennai. These rates have come into force after PMC and PCMC decided to levy a fee called royalty or land rent for underground cables. Hyderabad and Chennai are cities comparable to Pune. There are many other cities where the municipal corporations do not charge the BSNL any fee for laying cables. But in Pune,because of exorbitant rates,we have been unable to undertake any expansion work over the last year, said BSNL Principal General Manger V K Mahendra. We were able to provide around 22,000 broadband connections in Pune in the financial year ending March 2009. If PMC had taken a positive stand,we would have been able to add an additional 50,000 connections, he said. Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi agreed that these rates were high,but said this was a one-time payment. These rates are high,but they were decided by the general body, he said. These high rates have hit BSNLs expansion plans in 70 per cent of the citys outskirts. These areas include Vishrantwadi,Lohegaon,Vimannagar,Baner,Sinhagad Road,Hadapsar and University Road,among others. A senior official from a major private telecom operator also said PMCs rates were extremely high and had spiked all expansion plans. It is true of most private operators as well. We have been unable to carry out any expansion work because of these rates. We are trying to renegotiate these rates with the PMC, he said. Likewise,the BSNL has not used a single duct built by the PMC or the PCMC to sheath cables since the municipal corporations road widening work before the Commonwealth Youth Games began. First of all,the ducts have been built wrong; they were done without consulting the telecom companies. But even if we want to use them,the rents are very high, he said. Telecom operators have to pay between Rs 61 lakh and Rs 71 lakh for using the ducts. Pardeshi has refuted these claims. BSNL need not use the ducts,if they dont want to. Other operators are doing so, he said. Mahendra added that BSNL was facing the brunt of PMC and PCMCs high-handedness among all telecom companies,as it is the sole operator that has extensive underground cable network for landline and broadband connections.
