Babus may now use private telecom, airline services
Govt to bear Rs 12k-cr cost of spectrum retention but without any cash outgo put up for Cabinet nod.
The Department of Telecommunications is considering a proposal to allocate spectrum, the radio frequencies that enable wireless communications, for third-generation or 3G services to state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd ahead of other operators. The move is expected to frustrate private players since this will give BSNL and MTNL a head-start in rolling out high-value 3G services that offer video calls, music downloads and games.
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.
Reliance Infocomm Ltd is planning to initiate talks with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd on the ongoing Point of Interconnectivity issue
Dayanadhi Maran, the new IT and telecommunications minister, also announced a 10-point agenda, including revamping the telecom policy, to reduce the cost to customers.
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.
Subscriber needs to pay Rs 19 for the service.
Indian Internet Service Providers are upbeat about Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) as a solution for the country's last-mile connectivity problems.
''No lobbyists will be able to influence us. If that happens, you can censure me for dereliction,'' he said.
The Zain deal raises much speculation about Arifuddin's money and clout. Who is backing him? What is his relationship with politicians? Is he merely a front man for big players in telecom?
The race for control of Kuwait-headquartered Zain Telecom has quickened with the Indian consortium led by Delhi-based Vavasi group saying it is willing to give a majority stake in the consortium to state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd or Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, depending on which company gets government approval to go ahead with the deal.
According to a senior company official, BSNL is in the process of appointing recovery agents on a commission basis to bring back the money.
At present, in BSNL and MTNL, there is no such proposal for reduction of landline call charges and mobile roaming charges, officials of both the companies said.
In one of the largest deals in West Asia, a consortium of Indian telecom firms led by Delhi-based Vavasi Group, which also hopes to rope in state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) and a Malaysian investor, will acquire a 46 per cent stake in Kuwaiti telecom company Zain for around $13.7 billion.MTNL and BSNL said they would like to clarify that no view has been taken regarding their participation in the consortium.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd on Tuesday cut STD rates to lower the mobile-to-mobile call charges from a peak of Rs 9 a minute to Rs 4.80 a minute.
The Indian government does not plan to privatise state-run telecom firms Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd before 2004.
The telecom ministry will decide on the merger between the state-owned telecom companies, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, only after the listing of the former.
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.
Minister of State for Communication Shakeel Ahmad said that the exact modalities for effecting it would take some time because of the complexities involved.
However, operators said the chief beneficiary would be the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, which have already been given the spectrum for 3G services, as well as Reliance Communications, which is still to roll out its 2G GSM network.
Indian consumers will have their tryst with 3G telecom services in the next six months, with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) announcing that it is issuing state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) spectrum to roll out all-India services.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to allocate one block of 3G spectrum in each service area except Delhi and Mumbai to state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) at a price equivalent to the highest bid in the respective service areas.
Public sector telecom majors Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd on Friday launched broadband Internet services in over 200 cities across the country, fixing a highly competitive Rs 500 per month tariff for home users.
Telecom PSUs BSNL and MTNL will launch their broadband services throughout the country on 15th of January 2005 at Rs 500 per month.
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