Despite owning its own OFC network, AMC still pays for internet

The local authority spent Rs 230 million six years ago laying a 180 km long optical fibre cable (OFC) network for high-speed internet and intelligent traffic control along the arterial road and BRTS corridor network in Ahmedabad. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) might make money for its Smart City plan by leasing out the specialised OFC network to a commercial company. Although the civic body has its own OFC, the irony in this situation is that it only uses a small portion of its bandwidth and completely relies on the services of commercial ISPs to meet the internet requirements of its many zonal offices. The AMC spends thousands of dollars annually on these private services.

For the past two years, the AMC-run Smart City Corporation has issued two tenders to gauge interest in its optical fibre network from potential buyers. Yet until date, nothing has materialised. The tenders were floated for the third time this month as well. For instance, consider the AMC headquarters in Danapith, which is close to the BRTS corridor. A senior AMC official said that a state- owned telecom business also provides internet services here. He continued, "We're waiting for the bids to open on May 1.

The AMC has proposed around 70 projects totaling Rs 55.74 billion to be undertaken as part of the Smart City concept in 2015. Just 54 of these have been finished, with the rest still ongoing. The IT services of the BRTS make the best use possible of the current OFC network. According to AMC authorities, just 40% of the OFC network is used at its maximum.