Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd lost 32.6 lakh subscribers in 2003-04 compared to 17.9 lakh in the previous year even as 17.5 lakh people were waiting to get new connections from the state-owned telecom company as on March 31, 2004.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is all set to emerge as a major service tax payer to the central government with the amount expected to touch Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 18 crore) during 2003-04.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the public-sector telecom company, on Thursday said it was confident of expanding its mobile subscriber base to 25 million from five million in a year's time.
In a bid to enable subscribers to choose their own long distance operator, Trai now plans to start work on carrier access code.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Mobile Network in Karnataka, under the 'Student Power Scheme,' has come out with a special offer to cater to the needs of student community.
BSNL is to invest around Rs 932 crore for infrastructure development in Maharashtra circle, even as the telecom services provider is expecting a 17.4% increase in revenue to post Rs 3,075 crore by March 2004 from the circle.
In an attempt to woo the low income group, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Tuesday announced a new scheme `Sulabh' for basic phone subscribers with the facility of only incoming calls at rentals ranging between Rs 99 to Rs 160 a month.
Braving scorching heat and long queues, people made a beeline to the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited office in Srinagar as they tried to lay their hands on an application form to get a mobile telephone connection.
The government is considering a financial package of Rs 18,515 crore (Rs 185.15 billion) for the state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for providing services in the rural areas.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Thursday announced an up to 66 per cent reduction in its cellular tariff and also introduced a new package Plan 525, where cellular to cellular calls are as low as 40 paise.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd said on Tuesday that its customers would continue to avail of the 47 per cent domestic long distance rate cut on fixed-to-fixed line call beyond 500 km, for another month, till May.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is expecting a 20-25 per cent surge in its domestic long distance traffic volume following a 47 per cent cut in STD rates earlier this week.
In a big bonanza to telecom customers, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Monday announced a massive up to 47 per cent cut in domestic long distance rates on fixed line phones beyond 500 km.
The company's new chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal also said BSNL generated a revenue of around Rs 39,715 crore (Rs 397.15 billion) and net profit of about Rs 7,806 crore (Rs 78.06 billion) in 2006-07.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited will introduce SIM-based prepaid CDMA WLL service from August 1 that will further bring down the local call rate to 75 paise a minute.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd will reduce ISD (international subscriber dialling) tariffs for Sri Lanka by 40 per cent and to Middle East countries by 20 per cent from October 1.
The call charges for distance beyond 100 km will be Rs 1.80 per minute in place of Rs 2.40 per minute earlier, the company's Chairman Prithipal Singh said in New Delhi.
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Monday slashed international long distance tariffs by up to 70 per cent on account of the festive season, beginning October 21 mid-night to November 21.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has unveiled a new plan, 'Plan 140', for its mobile post-paid customers, even as the service provider has extended its special scheme for CellOne connections up to October 31, 2003.
Customers making frequent long distance calls can now avail the benefits of 47 per cent drop in STD rates, as Bharat Sanchar Nigam's reduced tariff of Rs 4.80 per minute for long distance calls beyond 500 kilometres has been effected from Friday.
An internal committee of Department of Telecom had alleged that Bharti Airtel had continued to route national and international calls as local calls under a scheme till 2005 despite being told to stop it in 2003.
Apart from that, as part of efforts to provide assurance to 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel and relieve their stress, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has stepped in to provide them with a landline through which they can talk to their families.
Launched in March, it triggers re-verification of suspected fraudulent numbers. Failing re-verification, the number will be disconnected.
Home minister heads several groups of ministers, including the one to decide the revival package for Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam. His ministry also takes decisive calls on national security in relation to telecom operations as well as equipment and technology used in the industry.
The central government has mandated all ministries, public departments and public sector units to use the telecom services of State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has sent a letter to the Pilibhit District Election Officer seeking necessary action against Bharatiya Janata Party MP.
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 company had over 1.66 crore (16.6 million) landlines in February.
Visitors to Taj Mahal will be able to access the Internet through Wi-Fi hotspots with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited launching the facility on Tuesday.
Oil explorer ONGC again emerged as the highest profit-making PSU of the country during 2012-13 while telecom major BSNL turned out to be the biggest loss-making enterprise, says the Economic Survey.