State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) said on Tuesday that as many as 78,569 employees have opted for VRS, and added that it expects to save Rs 1,300 crore in wage bills this fiscal after the scheme becomes effective in January.
The stay order given by the Delhi high court on the entire process of appointment is still to be vacated.
The government has also decided that all unlisted CPSEs which have made profit in the past 3 years and have a positive networth should get listed on stock exchanges.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rejected a proposal by Communications Minister A Raja for refund of the Rs 29,598 crore paid by state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited for third generation (3G) and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum.
The top three fixed line players Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and Bharti Airtel reported a revenue decline.
Upon discovery of the price for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum, BSNL and MTNL recently paid Rs 18,500.38 crore (Rs 185 billion) and Rs 11,097.97 crore (Rs 110.97 billion), respectively, to the government.
Repeated attempts by the government and also management of the PSU have failed to bring the different associations to consensus on divesting government stake.
The state-run telecom operator had recovered Rs 2,541.84 crore (Rs 25.41 billion) up to September 2012.
Two former CECs -- B B Tandon and T S Krishnamurthy -- were mandated to investigate the BSNL decision in the face of protest registered by Nokia-Siemens Network. The panel appointed by BSNL was duly approved by the chief vigilance commissioner. The complaint was referred to the panel after NSN, which was disqualified on technical grounds, alleged that the state-run telecom majors recent 93-million GSM lines tender was conducted in a non-transparent manner.
According to a senior company official, BSNL is in the process of appointing recovery agents on a commission basis to bring back the money.
A bitter battle between the finance ministry and the Department of Telecommunications over their jurisdiction might force the latter to withdraw its decision to waive licence fees for fixed-line service operators in rural areas.
A merger between state-run telecom firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is the best option because it would create the country's largest telecom company, said Kuldeep Goyal, chairman and managing director of BSNL.
Officially confirming the change in tack for the first time after months of speculation, Kuldeep Goyal, BSNL's chairman and managing director, told Business Standard, "Foreign partners definitely bring in some expertise that will help the company improve its performance."
The union is demanding early orders for wage revision and payment of arrears to non-executives, numbering about 2,50,000, who are eligible for wage revision since January 1, 2007.
BSNL will use the investment for mobile expansion and for services like 3G, broadband, wireless broadband, IPTV, WiMAX, mobile commerce (m-commerce), value-added landline, Enterprise Resource Planning and others.
In a move that could revolutionise internet access for millions, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is considering opening up its last mile local loop (fixed copper lines) for broadband services to private players.
The company is seeking consultants for mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, acquiring telecom licences outside India, a senior BSNL official said. BSNL, with a view to establishing itself as a global player in the telecom sector and to achieve inorganic growth, is aiming at expanding its area of operations, the official said.
Subject to Union government approval, the board of state-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Thursday cleared a proposal for the divestment of 30 per cent government equity in it, as suggested by a committee set up under Sam Pitroda, the prime minister's telecom and infrastructure advisor.
The Sam Pitroda Committee, set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to devise methods to revive BSNL, has recommended rationalisation of 300,000 staff of BSNL to stem human resource costs.
While the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has approved the access of TV on mobiles, service providers still cannot stream live TV channels on to the handset due to spectrum allocation from the Ministry of Information and Broadcast. However, since the regulations do not allow a direct transmission of TV channels, service providers as well as content providers have started using a technology called Unicast which provides content to end-user on a one-on-one basis.
With hopes of raising funds through an initial public offer (IPO) or selling a stake to a strategic investor fading due to stiff opposition from the unions, the government is working on a proposal for a private placement of shares for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), India's fifth-largest telecom company,
State-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) says it expects to increase its visibility in the domestic and international markets, besides improving company performance, as a fallout of the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of equity.
Even in the protected world of India's sick public sector units, it takes a special kind of government company to lose Rs 8 crore (Rs 80 million) a day, while earning just Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) as revenue - and that in the booming field of telecommunications.
The general strike called against the ongoing Telangana agitation in Andhra and Rayalseema region turned violent at many places on Monday. The bandh called by the all party Joint Action Committee in favour of united Andhra Pradesh hit the normal life in all the 13 districts of the two regions.
A person who is in the habit of remaining absent without prior sanction of leave and remains absent for a long period of more than 10 days without leave or intimation, is not somebody who is devoted to duty or maintains integrity. The petitioner's conduct needs to be tested on this anvil, the judges said.
The move may prove a shot in arm for the Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE, who were not allowed to put in bids for the 5.5 million tender due to security concerns.
Department of telecommunications has set up a committee to look into the issue of escalating cost for the project.
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is likely to exit the consortium comprising Delhi-based Vavasi Group and Malaysia's Al-Bukhary to acquire 46 per cent in Kuwait's Zain Telecom.Talks, which have been on for two months, have fallen through over valuations, and Vavasi is expected to announce a new consortium partner in a week or two. Vavasi Group Managing Director Farid Afruddin declined to comment on this information.
WiMax Forum, the representative body of WiMax operators, alleged that BSNL had deployed its WiMax services on the frequency division duplex-based spectrum band, which does not conform to international standards for WiMax technology. The forum also sought easier rollout obligations for the successful bidders of BWA spectrum.
A consortium led by Delhi-based Vavasi group has sent feelers to China Mobile, the world's largest telecom company, for a possible joint bid for Zain Telecom, adding another element of complexity to the battle for the Kuwait-based company that involves India's two state-owned telecom service providers.
An attempt is to be made over the next month to get over the opposition of staff unions to the Pitroda Committee recommendations on the revamp of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), the state telecom network outside Mumbai and Delhi.
Two years after having allotted third-generation (3G) spectrum without any contest to its own telecom companies, on the promise that they'd match the prices later paid by private sector winners of the auction for it, the communications ministry now wants them to get it for free.
In April, DoT introduced a graded penalty system under which operators pay Rs 50,000 per subscriber if more than 20 per cent of their user base is without valid identity documents.
Nine people were injured in a string of terror attacks in north Kashmir's Sopore town on Monday.
This is contrary to the BSNL technical committee's earlier approval to use the DR solutions of US-based Sun Microsystems and EMC Corporation. According to vendors close to the development, HP's DR solutions were not mentioned in the original purchase order issued to Ericsson, the main bidder.
BSNL is aggressively working towards sharing its passive as well as active infrastructure with existing and new telecom operators. It said the Master Sharing Agreement for sharing BSNL towers is in the final stages with some telecom operators and is likely to be finalised soon. In addition, BSNL has also decided to hire infrastructure from various infrastructure providers to speed up its roll out for mobile network in different states.
Operators Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, Aircel, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Idea Cellular might have to fork out over Rs 11,200 crore for having spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz, if the government accepts the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommendations.
BSNL had proposed to dilute 10 per cent of the government's equity holding through an IPO to raise about $10 billion. However, the offering was put off amid opposition from the employees union. The company is yet to decide on a bidder for the western region.
Eager to expand its footprint overseas, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited said on Tuesday it has a war-chest of about $6 billion (approximately Rs 30,000 crore) and is looking for acquisitions, especially in South Africa. The PSU is looking at Africa as an area of focus as it is an emerging region and also culturally, financially, African countries suit more to India firms.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances