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.
Telecom tribunal TDSAT has decided to hear all three petitions against TRAI filed by BSNL and COAI collectively on May 26.
BSNL had earlier cancelled its tender for 5.5 million GSM lines and called for bids again after revising the guidelines, following an amendment in the licence conditions for security purposes.
The government believes heightened awareness among its staff could be the only effective way to counter attempts of foreign agencies.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited on Monday expressed willingness to lower the 'carriage' charge, a move which will lead to lower STD call rates between Delhi and Mumbai to start with.
The government's plan to list state-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd will be delayed due to the company's mounting losses and high payout for 3G spectrum.
Minister of State for IT and Communications Sachin Pilot would distribute 1,000 mobile handsets with BSNL connections to below poverty line families near Jaipur on Thursday, according to a BSNL official.
BSNL, MTNL to match cell phone tariff cuts
Says nothing should move until system is in place to enable full tapping of lines.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a sub divisional engineer of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd of Roorkee, Ashok Chaudhary, and four private persons of Faridabad (Haryana) and Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), including an NRI kingpin based in Saudi Arabia, Sayeed Zaidi, for running a racket to cheat BSNL to the tune of several crores of rupees by illegally activating unmentioned ISD facility to local landline numbers.
Government on Tuesday rejected two most repeated demands of the private telecom industry by saying no to opening the last mile access of Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam
Millennium Telecom, a joint venture company of two telecom PSUs Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has floated a Rs 1,600-crore (Rs 16-billion) tender to lay a submarine cable between India and South East Asia, the landing station for which would be located in West Bengal. "The cable landing station for this cable would be set up at Digha in West Bengal," the department of telecommunication has informed the state government.
Telecom services across the country could suffer, with the Department of Telecom ready to recall over 2,200 of its officers on deputation in MTNL and BSNL.
Dispute over Telecom Regulator's power regarding interconnectivity agreements between telecom operators reached the Supreme Court,
Motorola also said it will consider manufacturing in India to comply with the eligibility criteria of deals with state-run carriers.
Pushing the national long distance call traiff further down, cellular operator Hutch has offered its subscribers in Delhi a new STD tariff of 75 paise per minute
In the past, BSNL had invested in IT, but it could never get the desired effect. In fact, a report pegged the company's expected 2010-11 losses to be over Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion).
The JAC has been continuously pressuring the BSNL management to procure mobile lines and other equipment to enable the company to provide better service to the people.
The much-talked merger of the two state-owned telecom giants -- Mahanagar Telecom Nigam and Bharat Sanchar Nigam -- is understood to have been put on hold
The recommendations include divestment of 30 per cent government equity in BSNL, reducing the company's workforce by a third, and cancelling the telecom equipment order for 93 million GSM lines, replacing it with network outsourcing deals.
In talks with BSNL, MTNL to float a firm in which it will hold 49 per cent.
State-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has written to the defence ministry to amend the conditions for floating tenders, including having own manufacturing facility in India, for setting up alternative communications network for defence forces."We have written to the defence ministry for change in tender conditions as some companies have said that the current conditions are very strict," said a senior BSNL official.
Airtel says to avail alternative routes to keep services on.
While for some other destinations like France, Russia, the UK and South East Asia, the rates would vary from Rs 3.25 to Rs 4 a minute, depending on the denomination value of CallNow cards, Kuldeep Goyal, CMD of BSNL told reporters. BSNL has launched a calling card -- CallNow - which allows BSNL and MTNL's landline subscribers to make much cheaper ISD calls to the US and Canada.
Historically, public sector units were conceived of under the assumption that they will control the 'commanding heights' of the Indian economy, which were necessary for rapid industrial growth but where private investment was unwilling to enter.
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