The scope of this agreement aims at setting up and managing infrastructure sites and provision of mobile services in specified rural and remote areas and is divided into two parts. Part – A of the Scheme is for setting up and managing infrastructure sites and Part - B for providing mobile services.
The infrastructure provider (IP) shall be solely responsible to set up, operate and maintain infrastructure sites in the specified cluster(s) for the whole period of agreement.
The IP shall provides the following components -
The infrastructure so created shall be owned by the IP and created infrastructure shall be shared by maximum 3 USPs to provide mobile services by installing necessary equipments.
The effective date of this Agreement is 1st June 2007.
The validity of this Agreement is six and half years from the effective date.
The subsidy shall be payable for a maximum period of 5 years within the validity period of Agreement, from the date infrastructure site is commissioned.
The IP shall enter into a service level Agreement (SLA) with the USPs for 5 years period to ensure continued provisioning of services to the rural subscribers and the IP shall not charge any rental from the USPs during this period.
The new tower/infrastructure sites shall not be installed within 3 Km. radius of a tower already installed by any access service provider for providing fixed wireless or mobile services. Self certification to this effect is to be submitted by IP.
Cluster wise number of infrastructure sites to be created and the representative rate per infrastructure site per annum are given in Section VII `Financial Conditions’ of the Agreement.
The IP shall be eligible to submit the first claim for quarterly subsidy at the end of the quarter in which infrastructure is set up and successfully commissioned. The cluster-wise quarterly subsidy claim shall be submitted in the prescribed formats duly signed by the authorized signatory of the company along with all Attachments/Annexure within 30 days of the end of the quarter.
The quarterly statements of subsidy claims shall be required to be audited by the Auditors of USP and the report of the Auditors to be filed with the Administrator within seven days of the signing of the Audit Report but not later than 30th September of the following year.
The annual subsidy from the USOF shall be disbursed in four quarterly installments during each financial year. Each installment shall be disbursed quarterly in arrears. Subsidy for a quarter shall be disbursed after making adjustments, if any, for the payments made in the previous quarter.
Final adjustments, if any, in respect of excess or shortage in the subsidy disbursed shall be made in the following year based on the quarterly statements duly certified by the Auditors of the IP.
In case total amount disbursed for a financial year based on quarterly self assessment claims of the IP results in excess payment by more than 10% of the actual subsidy due to him, the entire amount of excess payment shall be recovered along with an interest at the prime lending rate of State Bank of India prevalent on the day the respective disbursement was made
The IP shall be bound by the terms and conditions of the Agreement as well as by such orders/directions/regulations of DOT/TRAI as per provisions of TRAI Act, 1997 as amended from time to time and the instructions as are issued by the Administrator.
The IP Category I shall work within the framework of the Registration Certificate for IPs Category I issued by DoT or,
The IP shall work within the framework of technical conditions of the BSO/CMTS/UASL License Agreement: whichever be applicable.
PBG is not required from BSNL as long as the Government of India has 100% stake in it.
The IP shall commission all infrastructure sites in each of the clusters as per details given in the Agreement within 24 ( Twenty Four) months period of the signing of the Agreement.
(Roll Out conditions modified vide USOF Technical letter No.30-148/2007-USF (Vol.XIV) ( Part A,B,C) dated 21.04.2009, circulated vide USOF Finance letter No. 30-39/2009-USOF (Pt) dated 22.04.2009). Subsequently IP specific Roll Out modifications were issued vide USOF Technical letter No.30-148/2007-USF dated 13.01.2010 and 14.01.2010 circulated vide USOF Finance letter No. 30-39/2009-USOF (Pt) dated 20.01.2010. Further regarding extension of Rollout of PART A services, technical wing has received requests from BSNL and KEC. Technical wing has accepted the requests with some condition. Technical wing Letter N0.30-148/2009-USF(Vol. XXVII) Dated 16.06.2011 is attached for information and necessary action.
The Universal Service Provider (USP) shall be solely responsible to set up, operate and maintain the mobile services sites by using the sharable infrastructure created by IP in Part A of the Scheme in the specified cluster(s) for the whole period of Agreement.
The USP shall install the following components –
The equipments so installed shall be owned by the USP and the USP shall retain the revenue generated from the operation of the mobile services.
The infrastructure under Part A of the Scheme shall be shareable by maximum three USPs to provide mobile services by installing respective BTSs and other associated equipments and any other user as identified by the Administrator.
The effective date of this Agreement is 1st June 2007
The validity of this Agreement is six and half years from the effective date.
The subsidy shall be payable for a maximum period of 5 years within the validity period of Agreement from, the date mobile services site is commissioned.
The USP shall enter into a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the IP for 5 years period to ensure continued provisioning of services to the rural subscribers and the IP shall not charge any rental from the USPs during this period.
Cluster wise number of mobile services sites and the representative rates per mobile services site per annum are given in Section VII `Financial Conditions’ of the Agreement. There are three kinds of representative rates, i.e., rates at which payment is to be made from USF to the USP, rates at which payment is to be made by USP to USO Fund and zero representative rates, i.e. no payment is to be made to USP/ by USP.
The USP shall be eligible to submit the first claim for quarterly subsidy at the end of the quarter in which mobile services site is set up and successfully commissioned. The cluster-wise quarterly subsidy claim shall be submitted in the prescribed formats duly signed by the authorized signatory of the company along with all Attachments/Annexures within 30 days of the end of the quarter. The statement of claims shall be furnished by the USP even if no new mobile service site has been commissioned during the quarter. The quarterly statements of subsidy claims shall be required to be audited by the Auditors of USP and the report of the Auditors to be filed with the Administrator within seven days of the signing of the Audit Report but not later than 30th September of the following year.
The annual subsidy from the USOF shall be disbursed in four quarterly installments during each financial year. Each installment shall be disbursed quarterly in arrears. Subsidy for a quarter shall be disbursed after making adjustments, if any, for the payments made in the previous quarter.
Final adjustments, if any, in respect of excess or shortage in the subsidy disbursed shall be made in the following year based on the quarterly statements duly certified by the Auditors of the USP.
In case of interruption of mobile services for a period of more than 7 days in a quarter, subsidy shall be deducted on pro-rata basis for the total period of interruption in services. However, in case of interruption in services for 45 days or more in a quarter, no subsidy shall be paid for that quarter. In case total amount disbursed for a financial year based on quarterly self assessment claims of the IP/USP results in excess payment by more than 10% of the actual subsidy due to him, the entire amount of excess payment shall be recovered along with an interest at the prime lending rate of State Bank of India prevalent on the day the respective disbursement was made
In cases, where payment at the prescribed representative rate is to be made by USP to USOF or where the representative rate is zero, the penalty for interruption of mobile services, if interruption is for more than 7 days in a quarter shall be payable by the USP at the rate of Rs.500 per day for total number of days of interruption in services in a quarter. In case, however, interruption is for 45 days or more in a quarter, penalty shall be payable for the whole quarter
Similar procedure shall be adopted in cases where payment is to be made by USP to the USO Fund .Along with the quarterly payment, the USP shall submit a payment statement in the prescribed form along with the Attachments/Annexures showing the computation of the payment for the quarter. The statement shall be furnished by the USP even if representative rate is zero and no new mobile services site has been commissioned during the quarter.
The terms and conditions of the BSO/CMTS/UASL License as applicable shall prevail and shall be binding mutatis mutandis. The same shall also be applicable in case of migration to or award of new license in lieu of BSO/CMTS/UASL license
The USP shall work within the framework of the technical conditions of the BSO/CMTS /UASL License Agreement:
PBG is not required from BSNL as long as the Government of India has 100% stake in it.
No PBG is required in cases where payment is to be made by USP to USO at the prescribed representative rates or where representative rate is zero.
The USP shall provide the mobile services from each of the mobile services sites as detailed in Section II of the Agreement within 2 months of the commissioning of infrastructure sites by the IP.
(Refer USOF Technical letter No.30-148/2007-USF (Vol.XIV) ( Part A,B,C) dated 10.09.2008, circulated vide USOF Finance.