The service has been launched in partnership with transmission solutions firm Sterlite Technologies.
MTNL, the state-owned telephone major in the two metro cities of Delhi and Mumbai, became an acronym for 'Mera Telephone Nahi Lagega' in the Rajya Sabha as members complained about the quality of mobile services.
The public sector unit had borrowed Rs 7,500 crore (Rs 75 billion) in the last one month to pay the government for acquiring 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum in the two metros of Delhi and Mumbai.
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.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited may stand to lose two of its exclusive mobile service offerings -- seamless connectivity and free roaming with BSNL -- if it moves to other private players for carrying its STD traffic, saving a few billions.
Telecom public sector undertakings, BSNL and MTNL will start their broadband services across the country from Thursday, providing high-speed connectivity at tariffs ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 43,000.
The government said on Wednesday there will be no unbundling of BSNL and MTNL's fixed line networks for laying of broadband lines by private operators.
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.
R S P Sinha has been appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd with immediate effect.
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.
State-run telecom firm Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd plans to apply for a national long distance licence to the department of telecom shortly, in an effort to bring down its STD call charges
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has given the go-ahead to MTNL for recovering Rs 8.7 crore from Data Access.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd plans to invest Rs 2,284 crore (Rs 22.84 billion) this fiscal for developing telecom infrastructure, including the code division multiple access networks in the country, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
The government on Wednesday said it has begun the process of scrutinising the names for appointment of advisors to synergise operations of the telecom PSUs -- BSNL and MTNL.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd on Friday announced a special tariff plan for basic service users with Rs 160 monthly rental aiming at low end users. The company also announced two packages for Internet users.
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.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has bagged three licences for offering fixed, GSM-based mobile and international long distance services in Mauritius.
Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal Monday permitted Bharat Sanchar Nigan Ltd and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd to go for downward revision of tariff of their cellular services without referring the proposals to Trai.
The state-owned MTNL on Friday announced reintroduction of full talk value on all denomination of recharge coupons for subscribers of its pre-paid service Trump, but hiked SMS charges to Re 1 per SMS for both pre-paid and post-paid users.
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd on Tuesday announced a partial roll-back in telephone tariffs by increasing the number of free calls per month.
Stocks of public sector undertakings (PSUs) have been on fire in the past year as investors cheered an improvement in key operating metrics and embraced counters of these state-owned enterprises, analysts suggest. The S&P BSE PSU Index has gained over 90 per cent in the past year, rising much higher than the S&P BSE Sensex, which has rose nearly 19 per cent during this period, according to ACE Equity data. The BSE PSU Index, reports show, has delivered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28 per cent (including dividends reinvestments) over five years and risen by almost 60 per cent in the past year.
Rs 200-cr burden likely for TV rating agencies.
The new chairmen-cum-managing directors of public sector telecom firms BSNL and MTNL will be hired on a contract basis with a fixed term of three years, as per the terms and conditions of their appointment, and they will be eligible for the same salary and perks as the head honchos of schedule-A PSUs.
The Department of Telecommunications might favour the holding company structure for the merger of the two telecom PSUs, Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam.
MTNL and BSNL have joined hands to lay a submarine cable system to connect India to South-East Asia and the West Asia, to provide international bandwidth for their own as well as other commercial requirements.
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, which was passed by a voice vote after a short debate, also allows the Centre to take possession of a telecom network in case of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety.
New subscribers can avail new '3G Tariff', with local voice and video call charges at 20 paise per minute on own local network and 50 paise per minute for other local networks across Mumbai telecom circle with lifetime validity, MTNL said in a statement.
Strengthening their presence in the international long distance telephony segment, state-run telecom companies BSNL and MTNL are likely to finalise the proposed joint venture company for setting up a submarine cable link before this fiscal.
The Sensex closed with a gain of 13 points at 3,740.
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.
The Indian government does not plan to privatise state-run telecom firms Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd before 2004.
The development marks a watershed moment in India's telecom history since fixed-line or landline connections formed the final segment where a State-owned operator was in the top spot.
BSNL, MTNL to match cell phone tariff cuts
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.
Close on the heels of cellular operators announcing the launch of one-paisa-per-second billing scheme for all local/STD calls, roaming services and SMS, MTNL has slashed mobile tariffs to half-a-paisa per second on home network.
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.
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