Communications Minister Arun Shourie on Thursday asked state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd to make the optimum use of its huge cash reserves and aggressively explore foreign markets.
The Indian government does not plan to privatise state-run telecom firms Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd before 2004.
The government told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited would not be privatised in the near future.\n\n\n\n
The Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd, under its customer-friendly initiatives, has reduced installation charges for new telephone connections to Rs 500 from the present Rs 800, effective April 1.
The central government has no plans of divesting stakes in public sector telecom firms - BSNL and MTNL - as the two were performing well in the competitive telecom sector.
Hutch and Aircel jointly lead the customer expectations ranking, ahead of Reliance, Tatas and Bharti as per the latest survey by TNS Celltrack, while MTNL has the dubious distinction of being the last on this overall list covering 13 circles.
In a major incentive to the consumers, state-run Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd on Thursday indicated lowering of broadband tariffs by 50 per cent to Rs 199 per month from Rs 399.
MTNL has slashed STD tariffs for subscribers in Delhi and Mumbai who will charged at a flat tariff of Rs 1.90 a minute.
MTNL cellular tariff to be 80 paise a minute for post-paid users within its own network and Rs 1.20 to other cellular phones with a monthly rental of only Rs 100.
Communication and IT Minister Arun Shourie said on Saturday that the penalty clauses in the telecom licences would be reviewed to make them more stringent and it would be mandatory for companies to comply with them.\n\n\n\n
Taking a cue from Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, which had earlier reduced bandwidth prices
Reliance Infocomm is once again giving incumbents Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd a run for their money.
The Supreme Court recently quashed a rule that mandated telecom operators to compensate consumers.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik hinted on Wednesday that fuel prices may come down further if the international crude prices of Brent fall to around $20-22 per barrel.\n\n\n\n
Three telecom giants, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, Videsh Sanchar Nigam and Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd have formed a joint venture and got licence to offer basic telephony.
As many as 17.9 lakh (1.79 million) subscribers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and 203,000 customers of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd surrendered landline telephones between April to October this year, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd on Tuesday announced two tariff schemes for Internet users in the households under which a new telephone connection would be provided to be used only for accessing Internet and for incoming calls.\n\n
Telecom giant Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd said on Thursday it would levy no incoming call charge on its cellular service, matching a move made last week by the fast-growing sector's biggest player, BSNL.
Eyeing overseas acquisition in a big way, the state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is likely to bid for Rwanda Telecom, which is being put on divestment by the African country.
BSNL, MTNL to match cell phone tariff cuts
State-owned BSNL would be the biggest gainer followed by MTNL if the government changes the inter-connect usage charges, based on TRAI's consultation paper, according to a recent report by equity research firm J M Morgan Stanley.
The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd on Friday announced up to 25 per cent reduction in ISD (international subscriber dialling) rates for calls made to destinations like the United States, the Untied Kingdom and South East Asian countries.
Minister said the government wants to bring them back to profitability.
After Mauritius and Kenya, Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd is exploring overseas markets like Benin and Oman to expand its operations.
State owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd will lose an additional revenue of up to Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) for not implementing the standard tariff package announced by telecom regulator Trai.\n\n\n\n
State-owned Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd has launched three additional basic plans for its Intregated Subscriber Digital Network or ISDN customers effective January 1.
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