New Delhi, Jun 02: The Government would soon invite bids for subsidy disbursement for replacing village public telephones, based on MARR technology, installed before April 2002. "The draft tender document proposed to be used for inviting bids towards subsidy disbursement for replacement of MARR VPTs installed before April 2002 is being put up on the Department of Telecom (DOT's) website today for inviting suggestions or comments from interested parties," an official release said here.

The tender document has been prepared on the basis of guidelines issued by the government for implementation of universal service support.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had made recommendations on the subject based on detailed consultation process with interested parties.

"The tender, earlier floated on January 29, 2003 for extending subsidy support towards operation and maintenance of existing VPTs has been since finalised. The agreements were signed and disbursement towards operation and maintenance of existing VPTs has been made in March 2003," it added.

Bureau Report