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.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited broadband users would now be able to make international long distance calls for as low as Re 1 per minute with the launch of a new internet telephony service by the operator in partnership with Aksh Optifibre.
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 department of telecommunications has agreed to set up a search committee to look for new chairmen and managing directors for both, as suggested by the Sam Pitroda-led committee on the organsiation's revamp.
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have enough capacity to absorb over 113.9 million Vodafone Idea subscribers who are on 4G if Vodafone Idea has to shut operations.
State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd has signed a deal with an Israeli firm and its Indian partner to expand the telecom giant's IPTV services, which will enable TV broadcasts through telephone lines.
As the nation woke up to images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi splashed across the front page of newspapers by Reliance Industries to announce the launch of its 4G services, Shiv Sena's Member of Parliament from South Mumbai, Arvind Sawant, was not impressed.
A merger between state-run telecom firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is the best option because it would create the country's largest telecom company, said Kuldeep Goyal, chairman and managing director of BSNL.
Chances of a merger of state-run telecom operators BSNL and MTNL look remote, even as the government advised BSNL's management to start talks with the union for taking the company public.
Mobile operators with the exception of Reliance Jio are in a much worse financial condition than expected earlier. The combined borrowing of the four incumbent operators - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) - reached an all-time high of Rs 3.85 trillion at the end of March this year. The companies' combined debt was up 22.4 per cent year-on-year last financial year against 8.3 per cent growth in their borrowing in the previous year. As a result, the incumbent operators' debt-equity ratio shot up to an unsustainably high level of 6.83X at the end of March this year from 2.3X at the end of March 2020. This was largely due to big losses reported by all these companies last financial year. The four incumbent operators racked up combined net losses of Rs 70,000 crore in FY21.
The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led firm on Sunday approached its competitors to set up intra-circle roaming and other processes in the way it is done by the sector to respond to disasters.
Until March 2009, MTNL had Rs 11,429.37 crore of reserves and zero debt in its books. In three years a lot changed. At the end of 2011-12, the debt stood at Rs 9,647.49 crore and the reserves had dwindled to Rs 1,906.70 crore, after it paid Rs 11,000 spectrum fee.
The government has given an option to telcos to pay back interest on dues through equity and also conveyed that it has no interest in acquiring any telecom company, a top official of debt-ridden Vodafone Idea has said. Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) managing director and CEO Ravinder Takkar in an interview to PTI said it is clear that the government wants the company to compete in the market and there should be at least three private service providers in the telecom sector. "I have had many many interactions across various parts of the government leading up to this announcement (telecom reforms).
DoT is even considering measures to urge private telecom operators to bring down their dependence on Chinese-made telecom equipment.
Other members of the search panel are secretary (personnel) Shantanu Consul, telecom secretary P J Thomas, IIT Chennai professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IIM Ahmedabad professor Samir Baruha and IISC Bangalore professor N Balakrishnan.
Upon discovery of the price for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum, BSNL and MTNL recently paid Rs 18,500.38 crore (Rs 185 billion) and Rs 11,097.97 crore (Rs 110.97 billion), respectively, to the government.
It is estimating that this would help monetise assets worth Rs 10,000 crore.
'Harassment' is the objective, not detention.
BSNL, Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications, who also provide GSM technology-based services, are not part of the report.
They said that massive public investment in infrastructure, social sectors and agriculture would generate employment and the Union Budget should give it a priority and allocate necessary funds for this.
Based on industry estimates, telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and BSNL, are expected to invest over $10 billion on buying 5G telecom equipment in the next five years as they transition from non-standalone networks to standalone 5G networks.
BSNL will now offer free roaming from this month onwards.
The government on Thursday ruled out any proposal to increase the monthly rental of MTNL and BSNL fixed line phones or call charges.
Telecom players are set to use 3G technology to woo the ever-expanding mobile user base with value-added services and much higher speeds.
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.
For countries to which the calling rates were at Rs 6, 8 and 12 have now been reduced to Rs 4, 6 and Rs 8 per minute respectively. The new rates will be effective from Friday, company's Executive Director A K Arora said in a statement.
Vavasi group, a New Delhi firm with diverisifed interests, on Wednesday said it would approach government-owned BSNL and MTNL to join in doing due diligence of Kuwait's Zain Telecom.
Railway Minister Nitish Kumar has said that negotiations are on with the telecom ministry for equity participation of MTNL and BSNL in RailTel Corp to improve telecom services in the Railways.
MTNL will be one of the few big telecom companies in the world to allow competitors to offer their brand on its network.
Subscriber needs to pay Rs 19 for the service.
Two private cellular operators in Delhi -- AirTel and Hutchison-Essar complained on Friday of disruption in calls from cell-to-fixed line phones and vice versa even as state owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd dismissed
State-owned telecom monoliths, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Tuesday signed a pact to ensure seamless roaming between their networks to help their cellular subscribers have smooth mobility and connectivity.
Sixth Pay Commission has urged the government that all Indian Telecom Service (Group A) officers be absorbed in the public sector telecom service providers, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd & Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd, or sent to the surplus pool. It has also suggested winding up of the Telecom Commission saying BSNL and MTNL now provide extensive services along with several private sector operators. The report states there is no need to retain the 2400 cadre strong-ITS (Group A).
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