The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) will start laying optical fibre cables (OFC) alongside new cables that are going to be laid underground (UG) with an aim to establish its own communication system.
Bescom Managing Director C. Shikha said the decision to include laying of OFC along with UG cables was taken as the process will yield better returns at minimal extra cost. To be undertaken over the next three years, the exercise would make Bescom the first government owned electricity distribution company to have a self-owned communication system, Ms. Shikha said.
Officials said OFCs will be essential in implementation of the RAPDRP project, which involves data acquisition, processing and management, as well as for the Smart Grid System.
Bescom intends to lease out extra OFCs commercially to private players for additional revenue generation.
The UG cabling project for the city was announced in the State budget last year and was pitched as a solution to increase quality and reliability of power supply, reduction in transmission and distribution losses, reduction in unauthorised connections due to tampering and decrease in the number of accidents due to snapping of overhead lines, among others.
