ITI Limited, a telecom and defence equipment manufacturing PSU on Thursday said that it has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense to implement Rs 7796 crore worth ASCON Phase IV Project. Army Static Switched Communication Network (ASCON) is said to be Indian army’s telecom network covering multiple terrains in the northern, north-eastern and western regions of the country. ITI in a release said that its contract with the army would include deploying the strategic network for secured communication across India and its subsequent maintenance for next 10 years.
Phase IV ASCON Project Stretches Across 11,000 Km
The ASCON project is said to be an internet protocol (IP) Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) based communication network with microwave radio, satellite and optical fiber network as media.
It is said that the project includes installation, commissioning and maintenance of telecom equipment like IP/MPLS routers, NMS, mobile nodes and other test equipment. Further, the project is also said to include civil works for providing the complete infrastructure at multiple sites along with rolling out of the optical fiber network of about 11,000 Kms.
ITI Also Implemented First Three Phases of ASCON Project
The company highlighted that the contract was signed by Rakesh Mohan Agarwal, CMD of ITI Limited and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defense in New Delhi on Thursday. “Having successfully implemented and maintaining the first three phases of ASCON project for last 3 decades, we have an edge in implementing this prestigious project,” Agarwal said in the release. “Having ASCON IV project at this juncture certainly gives a big boost to Indian army and ITI is very much excited to roll out this network.” ITI also said that the scope of the project also includes a warranty period of two years along with maintenance support of the communication network for another eight years after the warranty. It has been reported that ITI with its partnership with Tech Mahindra will be ready to make 4G and 5G equipment in a “few months” time. ITI and Tech Mahindra entered into a partnership for the development of 4G and 5G technologies in June. In early September, it also emerged that Bharti Airtel had selected ITI for its Xstream Fiber project expansion in eight circles across India.
