Six cellular service operators - Hutch, Idea, BPL Mobile, Escotel, Spice Telecom and RPG Cellular - have signed an agreement with Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd for routing international long distance traffic through the Tatas-controlled company. All cellular operators were till now routing their international long distance calls exclusively through Bharti Telesonic's network.
The six cellular operators, with a subscriber base of over 6 million, had announced last month their decision to break away from Bharti's national long distance operations to align with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
While the cell firms' agreement with BSNL for STD calls remains intact, they will also use VSNL's national long distance network wherever feasible.
Though Bharti has played down the impact of the shift in cellular long distance traffic, the latest agreement with VSNL will further hit Bharti Telesonic's bottomline. The company has already lost around 10 per cent of its revenues owing to the shift in STD traffic.
The move has been initiated by MobileFirst, a loose alliance between BPL Mobile, Escotel, RPG Cellular and Spice Telecom. "In addition to the alliance partners, VSNL will also carry long distance traffic for Hutch and Idea who are strategic partners in the MobileFirst alliance.
"The 6-million strong MobileFirst subscriber base with a contiguous pan-India footprint will now have full access to the VSNL international long distance network," a press statement said.
Commenting on the agreement, S K Gupta, managing director, VSNL, said, "Through this agreement, VSNL will now be amongst the preferred national long distance carriers and the 'First-in-route' for all outgoing international long distance traffic for the MobileFirst alliance. It will also significantly add value to VSNL's growing market share of long distance traffic."
VSNL is also in negotiations with BSNL to carry its international long distance traffic from 40 million fixed line users.
Bharti officials said such movements were natural in a market with three long distance operators. They said some of the operators like Idea were already routing their long distance traffic through BSNL and VSNL.
However, they admitted that shifting of Hutch's long distance traffic may have an adverse impact.
MobileFirst encompasses contiguous cellular circles, with BPL Mobile in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Escotel spanning Haryana, Kerala, western Uttar Pradesh, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, RPG Cellular in Chennai, and Spice Telecom in Punjab and Karnataka.
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