New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) The Income Tax department has struck an estimated Rs 50 crore deal with state-owned telecom company BSNL to provide 51,000 mobile connections and one thousand high-end Blackberry phones for secure and fast communication amongst its officers and staff.

The department's new telecom kitty, formulated to help I-T officials to enhance their speed of communication for official work, has a heavy shopping list with the joint network of BSNL and MTNL.

This provides for supply of 51,000 mobile connections, 22,000 landline connections, 8,000 3G datacards with 5GB downlaod per month, 1,000 Blackberry phones, 5,000 broadband connections and unlimited free SMS facility to the entire network of BSNL/MTNL. Government procurement for telecom services secures enhanced official communication through bulk mobile, landline, data and secure devices. The Income Tax department entered a procurement agreement with a state-owned telecom operator to establish a dedicated communications network for enhancing speed and security of official correspondence, covering bulk mobile and landline access, broadband and 3G data connectivity, and provision of high-end secure handsets with an internal SMS facility.