The Department of Telecommunication has sought industry's views on the draft tender document for inviting bids for operation and maintenance of existing village public telephones.
The tender document has been prepared on the basis of the guidelines issued by the Government for implementation of universal service support in respect of fulfilling rural telephony obligations.
The draft document would be put on the DoT website Saturday for inviting suggestions and comments from the interested parties, an official release said.
It can be recalled that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had made recommendations on the subject based on detailed consultation process with interested parties.
Government had issued guidelines after taking into consideration the recommendations of Trai which had given first priority for extending subsidy support towards operation and maintenance of existing VPTs.
The DoT has fixed January 10 as the deadline for receiving suggestions with regard to the tender document before finalising it for the purpose of inviting bids.