TELECOM NEWS

• 26.12.2009:BSNL's Rs 35,000 crore expansion plan hits rough patch:'While the major equipment supplier Ericsson has lowered its price substantially after negotiations for the GSM expansion contract, the two government nominees-- joint secretary J S Deepak and a senior DoT official P K Mittal-- have raised some proprietary issues concerning the tender that was cleared early 2009.' Read More...

• 20.12.2009: Mobile Number Portability only in April: The mobile users in India may now have to wait till April 2010 to be able to enjoy mobile number portability (MNP) services, a facility that allows users to change their operator while retaining the number. MNP was earlier scheduled to be implemented from January 1, 2010, in metros and large circles, while the rest of the country was slated to have access to this from April. At a review meeting on Friday to evaluate MNP preparedness between operators, DoT and Trai officials agreed to extend the deadline for metros to April 2010. Both private operators and state-run telecom firms - BSNL and MTNL - during the meet said that while equipment for MNP was already in place, they can be tested and commission only by March next year.(PTI)

• 17.12.2009:Idea Cellular overtakes BSNL in GSM Market share: BSNL has been relegated to fourth place in GSM Market share, due to Idea Cellular forging ahead of it in November 2009. View GSM Subscriber figures...

• 09.12.2009:GSM, CDMA players fight over 11-digit Number: 'Under the circumstances, reserving levels 2,3,4,5,6,7, and 8 for fixed line is unreal and blocks out way too many precious resources. They seek the release of levels 7 and 8 specifically, in addition to level 9, for introducing a new mobile series. It is estimated that with these three series, a billion plus subscribers can be served without the need for any fresh allocation of levels.' Read More...

• 07.12.2009:BSNL cuts roaming charges in price war: BSNL on Monday cut charges on calls made outside a user's local coverage area, saying it was joining an ongoing tariff war in the world's fastest-growing wireless market. State-run BSNL, which is India's No. 2 telecoms firm including fixed-line subscribers, will let users choose roaming charges of either 49 paisa (1 US cent) per minute or 1 paisa per second.(PTI)

• 07.12.2009: BSNL's 93 mn GSM-lines tender in limbo; cancels Huawei order: 'Sources also indicated that BSNL was weighing various options, including calling fresh bids for adding 93 million GSM lines to its networks. Officials said, in the process, BSNL would lose further market share to private operators as it may exhaust the remaining capacity in various circles soon.' Read More...

• 03.12.2009:BSNL, BT partner to offer global conferencing solutions: BSNL is expanding its "Managed Enterprise Business Solutions," offering and has now partnered with BT. This will help BSNL to provide the world's best audio and web conferencing solutions to customers, CMD Kuldeep Goyal said today.The conferencing solutions to be rolled-out by BT will allow BSNL to deliver the latest conferencing technologies in the Indian market, which will help increase business efficiency for enterprises while also providing for a greener environment by increasing collaboration and reducing the need for corporate travel, both the companies said. (PTI)

• 02.12.2009: Soon, your cell phone number may have eleven digits: DoT has prepared a draft notification in which it wants all mobile users to adopt a 11-digit numbering plan by pre-fixing '9'. All 500 million mobile users in the country may have to change their phone numbers from January 1, 2010, and adopt a 11-digit cellular connections  if a DoT proposal is accepted by the industry. But, all leading operators said that it would be ‘next to impossible’ for the country to move to a 11-digit mobile number by January 2010 as this would involve making massive technical changes to both software and mobile network configurations, while adding that this process could take up to 12 months. (ET)

• 02.12.2009: MTNL dials 1/2 paise per second plan: MTNL on Tuesday raised the bar for competitive tariffs by announcing a half paise-per-second plan for mobile calls on its 2G as well as 3G network in Delhi and Mumbai circles. For calls made to other networks, the tariff is 1 paise-per-second, MTNL chairman and managing director RSP Sinha said. (TNN)

• 20.11.2009: Rs.19 to retain mobile number: Telecom regulator TRAI has fixed Rs.19 as portability fee to be charged from users for changing operator while retaining the number.  By December 31, operators should ready their network for porting of numbers in metros. (PTI)

• 19.11.2009: Tariff war, new players put state telcos in a spot:'A section of BSNL’s top executives are also of the view that ‘vested parties’ were behind the move by certain vendors who had dragged the PSU to court delaying its expansion plans. They also add that in 2006 and 2007, the company matched India’s biggest and most valuable phone firm Bharti Airtel in subscriber additions, but meddling since then had resulted in growth stagnating.' Read More...  [The above quoted portion reflects our view conveyed in our letter dated 16.11.2009 to Prime Minister - Editor] Read our letter again...

• 18.11.2009: All India GSM Subscriber figures for October 2009: BSNL has achieved the lowest growth rate among all the operators during October 2009. View figures...

• 10.11.2009: HC pulls up Government over license issue: 'The Delhi High Court on Monday pulled up the government for its decision to advance the cut-off date for allotment of telecom licences to new operators in January 2008 on a first-come, first-serve basis.' Read More...

• 10.11.2009: Airtel way ahead in NLD, ILD market: 'Bharti Airtel’s revenues from NLD services at the end of September 30, 2009 are at Rs 1500.96 crore while the nearest competitor, BSNL has revenues of Rs 828.56 crore.' Read More...

• 09.11.2009:SC notice to Trai, RCom, Tata Teleservises, Vodafone others:'The Supreme Court has issued notice to 11 parties, including TRAI, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone Essar, on a petition by state-run BSNL challenging removal of Access Deficit Charge (ADC), a levy paid by private telecom operators for funding the PSU's operations in rural and remote areas.' Read More...

• 08.11.2009: BSNL introduces per-second billing plan: BSNL has announced the launch of per-second billing plan, joining a host of mobile phone operators who have already introduced such tariff scheme. Under the new billing plan, the users can make local and STD calls within BSNL network at the rate of one paisa per second, BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal said. Another plan that has also been introduced allows local and STD calls to any network at 49 paise per minute, he added. The 49 paise/minute call is expected to help BSNL grab more users and take on the competition, as it takes the tariff to new low as far as STD calls are concerned. (PTI)

• 05.11.2009: DoT asks BSNL to re-tender mega GSM contract amidst lack of competition:'While in the past, DoT is seen to be hampering the day-to-day decision-making process of BSNL, in the present case, the DoT’s concerns have some valid reasoning.' Read More...

• 05.11.2009:Telcos surpass 500 mn user base target a year in advance:'The Indian telecom industry surpassed the target of 500 million mobile and landline subscribers in September, a year in advance, even as both the segments recorded a drop in monthly additions in September compared with the previous month, as per figures released by telecom regulator Trai.' Read More...

• 04.11.2009: Termination charges to be reduced further: Amid the ongoing price wars in the telecom sector that has resulted in a drop in call rates to record lows of 1 paise/second, communications minister A Raja today proposed further reductions in mobile tariffs by lowering the termination rates. (Reuters)

• 01.11.2009:HCL may lose 'lowest bidder' status for BSNL's Rs 900-cr IT deal: 'In what could affect HCL Infosystems’ ‘lowest bidder’ status for BSNL’s Rs 900-crore IT outsourcing contract for the northern region, rival bidders and other officials familiar with the decision making are crying foul over the shortlisting process for awarding the contract.' Read More...

• 01.11.2009:Sistema Shyam, BSNL enter into tower-sharing agreement: 'Sistema-Shyam was amongst the nine new companies who were given licences early last year to launch mobile services. So far, the company has launched CDMA-based services in seven circles and operates under the MTS brand.'  Read More...

• 19.10.2009: BSNL plans revenue growth from internet data centres: Looking at newer revenue streams, state-run telecom operator BSNL plans to set up and operate internet data centres (IDCs) in partnership with private players on revenue-share basis.The PSU has invited expression of interests from data centre service providers (DCSP), wherein all capex shall be borne by the bidder in the BSNL provided covered space, a company official said. A data centre, also called a server farm, is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecom and storage systems. Data centres are used by companies to house their servers. With the growing number of telecom players, the demand for IDCs are also on the rise. BSNL will tap customers like IT and telecom firms to store their data in its server farm, the official said. (PTI)

• 14.10.2009: All India GSM subscriber figures for September 2009: View figures...

• 13.10.2009: Govt. auditor says RCom inflated revenues: 'The government-appointed auditor Parekh & Company is understood to have revealed that Reliance Communications (RCOM), the flagship company of the R-ADAG group, has inflated the company’s revenues by Rs 2,915 crore in 2007-08 and also evaded licence fee of Rs 315 crore.' Read More...

• 28.09.2009: Telco's 'revolutionary' plans come with a catch: 'Tata Tele is not the lone heart breaker in the highly competitive telecom space where companies are announcing price-cuts and innovative call rates almost every day. There are devils in the fine print of most of the lucrative offers, be it from market leader Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular or Aircel, as customers who lapped up these offers are beginning to discover.' Read More...

• 24.09.2009: TATA DoCoMo notches up more than 3.4 million additions in August 2009: “In a market that is cluttered with many operators and throws up confusing options, we are offering simplicity to consumers by being the country’s most transparent, innovative and liberating telecom brand. The first move on this front was to cut through the clutter and redefine the entire pricing paradigm—from Day One of our launch, we have worked on a per-second pricing model for almost everything, be it voice calls, VAS services, IVR interactions... Our subscribers see that as true value and dependability, and that is what has seen us see this initial success. Going forward, we will continue to innovate and better the service experience through fantastic VAS offerings and unique technology innovations.” Read More...

• 15.09.2009: IB asks Govt. to block all net telephony services: 'The Intelligence Bureau has asked the communication ministry to block all internet telephony (VoIP) services to and from the country until the Department of Telecom (DoT) puts in place a mechanism to track such calls.' Read More...

• 14.09.2009: All India GSM Subscriber Figures for August 2009: View figures...

• 13.09.2009: Govt. to hold 3G spectrum auction on December 7: The government will hold the much-awaited 3G spectrum auction for GSM operators on December 7 and invite bids from October 26 to November 13. Read More...

• 06.09.2009: Spectrum fee set to be based just on mobile service revenue: 'In a move that will benefit all mobile operators, the government will soon announce that only revenues from mobile services will be subject to spectrum charges, said a department of telecom (DoT) official, requesting anonymity.' Read More...

• 27.08.2009: Govt to raise Rs 25K crore from 3G; base price at Rs 3500 crore: Paving the way for moving to the next generation of mobile services, an empowered Group of Ministers today fixed Rs 3,500 crore as reserve price for 3G spectrum to be given to a maximum five players initially. The eGoM also decided a base price of Rs 1,750 crore for pan-India WiMax spectrum and the auction of both will be completed within 90 days, Telecom Minister A Raja told reporters. "I do feel that the Government of India, putting together 3G and Wimax, will easily get Rs 25,000 crore," he said after over a hour-long meeting of the eGoM. The eGoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, decided that five slots in 3G spectrum would be auctioned and amongst the five, one lot has already been allotted to BSNL or MTNL, the minister said, adding that four more slots would be auctioned. He, however, said that with only four more slots to be sold, the players are likely to bid higher for the frequency. The eGoM lowered the base price to Rs 3,500 crore for pan-India 3G spectrum, from the earlier level of Rs 4,040 crore decided by Raja and Mukherjee, after representations from the private players and their respective lobbies. The Telecom Ministry will now announce the detailed programme for the auction, which will include pre-bid conference in the next couple of weeks, a source said. (PTI)

• 19.08.2009: All India GSM Subscribers figures for July 2009: BSNL's Market share slightly improves. View figures...

• 11.08.2009: Telcos want users to bear number portability cost: 'BSNL has told telecom regulator Trai that upgrading networks to allow MNP would cost the company about Rs 1,200 crore, and only 2% of the elite customers were likely to use this facility. Going by BSNL's formula, back of the envelope calculations show that it will cost about Rs 6,000 per user to port their number.' Read More...

• 04.08.2009: The New King: The agony and distress experienced by each one of us over BSNL's poor show is unexplainable. But we are not alone in experiencing this ordeal. Please go through this editorial of Voice&Data and the comments posted by BSNL employees:  Editorial of Voice&Data ...

• 02.08.2009: BSNL's poor show catapults Bharti to no 1 slot in revenues for first time: 'BSNL issued a terse statement stating that it had posted a net profit of Rs 574.85 crore on total revenues of Rs 3,5811.92 crore without even providing comparative numbers for the yearago period. Profits had nosedived 81% and revenues fell 6%.' Read More...

• 27.07.2009: Govt mulls preferential shares to BSNL staff: Government on Monday said it was mulling to give preferential shares for employees of BSNL as and when the consensus is reached on the Initial Public Offer from the state-run telecom operator. "I assure you it is not a question of disninvestment or privatisation. If it is possible, we can go in for 10-20 per cent IPO", Telecom Minister A Raja said in the Rajya Sabha.He said discussions are on with trade unions on the issue but no decision on IPO has yet been taken. "Preferential shares can be given to workers", Raja said. He admitted that BSNL profit has come down to Rs 500 crores citing reasons as delay in expansion plans owing to court cases on tenders for new equipment floated by the PSU. (PTI)

• 26.07.2009: Tata Communications net profit plummets 67 pc: Telecom services provider Tata Communications Saturday said its net profit for the quarter ended June 30 fell 67 per cent to Rs 32 crore ($6.6 million) as against Rs 98 crore in the same period last fiscal. Tata's stand-alone revenue also fell 3.2 per cent to Rs 843 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 871 crore, the company said in a statement. The company's operating profit was, however, up 10 per cent to Rs 218 crore from Rs 199 crore. Tata Communications announced a slew of new partnerships and new launches in the quarter. It partnered with Qatar Telecom (QTel) and RTComm in Russia to deliver global connectivity services. The company also partnered with Starwood hotels to roll out its video-conferencing facility, the statement added. (IANS)

• 23.07.2009: Govt mulls 10% listing of BSNL, TCIL stake: Telecom Secretary, Siddharth Behura said that the government plans to list 10 % stake each of BSNL and TCIL with the timeline to be decided in consultation with the finance ministry."Two of our companies BSNL and TCIL are not yet listed. We would like to list them with 10% divestment in each of them initially. But the timeline will be decided in consultation with the finance ministry," said the Secretary. On TCIL offloading its stake in Bharti Hexacom, Mr. Behura said that it is currently under review. (TT)

• 23.07.2009: Bharti Airtel posts weakest growth rate in quarterly revenues in company’s history: Bharti Airtel’s rapid growth story seems to be fading away as the company managed only 17% rise in revenues in the first quarter financial results announced today. Just a year back, the company witnessed growth rates of 44 % in revenues. Even sequentially, the earlier quarter saw growth rate of 37% in revenues. The company attributed the fall in revenues to some extent to the reduction in termination charges. In a briefing the company cautioned that the Indian mobile services market is indeed becoming challenging due to increasing competition and entry of new players. The company hopes to sustain growth in future from the rural segment. 60 % of its subscribers are from rural areas now. (TT)

• 15.07.2009: BSNL’s revenue collection system seen deteriorating: “BSNL failed to retire Government loan of Rs 7,500 crore in spite of having adequate cash reserves of Rs 18,829 crore as of March 2005 parked in bank deposits with average rate of return of 6.19 to 7.38 per cent a year against interest rate of 14.50 per cent for the loan,” added the CAG.  Read More...

• 13.07.2009: BSNL loses crown to Bharti Airtel: State-run PSU, BSNL till date found comfort in the fact that while it may be losing race on the subscriber addition front vis-à-vis private operators, it remained the leader in terms of revenue generated. But even this comfort was lost by the PSU as VoicenData’s annual survey for telecom services in India for the fiscal 2008-09 show that Bharti Airtel is now the leader well ahead of BSNL. Bharti Airtel’s revenues from telecom services reached Rs 36,962 crore as compared to BSNL’s revenues of Rs 35,167 crore. Reliance Communications followed BSNL with revenues of Rs 22,941 crore while Vodafone stood at number 4 position with revenues of Rs 22,224 crore. (TT)

• 30.06.2009: TRAI issues regulations for number portability: 'The guidelines have highlighted subscribers' eligibility for porting - switching operators without changing number - as well as the rights, obligations and duties of operators - both donors and recipients. A donor is the operator from whose network the subscriber exits and the recipient is the user's new service provider.'  Read More...

• 29.06.2009: BSNL looking at strategic foreign partner to reverse fortunes: 'As it battles falling revenues and profits, state-run telecom major BSNL is contemplating inducting a foreign strategic partner, a move that will enable the company get a better valuation than from an IPO or disinvestment.' Read More...

• 28.06.2009: ONGC, IOC, BSNL, SAIL, CIL may be termed Mahanavaratnas: 'Oil majors ONGC and IOC, telecom firm BSNL, steel-maker SAIL, and Coal India Ltd may be the only state-run firms which would get the coveted 'Mahanavaratna' status conferring them greater operational autonomy. According to the criteria set by Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), only five pubic sector enterprises (PSUs) could meet the qualifying norm in turnover, profitability and networth.' Read More...

• 21.06.2009: 3G base price set to double as cabinet to take final decision next week: 3G services may finally see the day in India in a big way but a very high investment for private operators as the DoT is likely to follow finance’s Ministry’s proposal in hiking the base price for 3G services spectrum from originally decided Rs 2020 crore to Rs 4040 crore and for broadband wireless access (read WiMAX) from Rs 1010 crore to Rs 2020 crore for a pan-India licence. DoT can take relief from the fact that the finance ministry may approve the move to auction 8 blocks for 3G spectrum. Finance Ministry was earlier advocating for limiting the slots to 5 in each circle. The slots include a slot for BSNL and MTNL in their respective areas of operation. (TT)

• 19.06.2009: BSNL Market Share in GSM further goes down: BSNL has added just 4,53,582 GSM connections in May 2009, a growth rate of just 0.95%. Market share comes down from 16.01% to 15.72%. View figures...

• 06.06.2009: BSNL looks for global OEMs to bid for its WiMax operations: 'BSNL on Friday issued fresh tenders to run its WiMax operations, even as it tightened the eligibility criteria and introduced a slew of additional safe-guards in the wake of the telco being forced to abort its previous tender in light of dubious operators making it to the final shortlist.' Read More...

• 31.05.2009: BSNL in a soup again: 'That the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has a penchant for getting into controversies when it comes to awarding equipment contracts is well-known.' Read More...

• 28.05.2009: BSNL's monthly GSM growth rate declines: GSM subscriber figures for April 2009 shows a decline in BSNL's monthly growth rate as well as in its market share. View figures...

• 27.05.2009:Mobile operators cross connections over 11-digit number plan:'Differences are growing among mobile operator lobbies over a government proposal to introduce an 11-digit access code in place of the existing 10-digit code from January 2010 for mobile services to accommodate a rapidly growing subscriber base.' Read More...

• 19.05.2009:BSNL set to spread wings: BSNL will shortly appoint a panel of consultants to guide it on its overseas business plans, including mergers and acquisitions and bidding for licences.The company was seeking consultants for mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, acquiring telecom licences outside India, a senior BSNL official said. BSNL, with a view to establishing itself as a global player in the telecom sector and to achieve inorganic growth, was aiming at expanding its area of operations, the official said. The state-run firm, which so far concentrated only on the Indian market (except Delhi and Mumbai), has decided to expand overseas. Sources said BSNL had a cash surplus of over $10 billion and would use part of these resources for its overseas foray. So far, MTNL is the only state-owned telecom firm that has been bidding for licences abroad. Moving aggressively on its overseas expansion plans, BSNL has already set up a separate international business division to explore telecom opportunities abroad ~ be it acquisition of companies or bidding for licences. BSNL chairman, Mr Kuldeep Goyal, had earlier said the company would look at valuable buyouts based on due diligence of the target company. The PSU, he said had already received in-principle board approval to enter the global market and bidding for Tunisia is one such step. The North African country is set to issue new licences for fixed line and basic mobile telephone services. The licences, initially for 15 years, include national and international long-distance services - PTI

• 17.05.2009: BSNL gets nod to award deal to Huawei: 'BSNL has overcome opposition from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the defence ministry, winning a permission to award a lucrative contract for telecom equipment to Chinese company Huawei. A government panel, which included representatives from IB and the defence ministry, has endorsed BSNL’s position and allowed the company to place orders with Huawei for only southern states as they have no international land borders.' Read More...

• 17.05.2009: Former Secretary, DoT, Shri.J.S.Sarma has been chosen for appointment as next Chairman, TRAI.  Shri.Sarma was the last entrant to the race for the top post. (Please re-visit our report dated 05.04.2009)

• 05.05.2009: PMO rejects Telecom Fee cut: 'The prime minister’s office (PMO) has shot down the decision of the communications ministry to slash the licence fee for telecom operators with large networks by up to a third, saying the ministry did not obtain the Cabinet’s clearance before announcing the cut.' Read More...

• 03.05.2009: MNP charges likely to be around Rs 200-Rs 300: Subscribers willing to make use of the soon to be introduced mobile number portability (MNP) may have to shell out a one time fee of around Rs 200-Rs 300.The final rates are yet to be announced by the country’s regulator, Trai.  Syniverse and MNP Interconnect have bagged licences to oversee MNP in India. (TT)

• 26.04.2009: Pleasant surprises continue as fixedline subscriber base increases in March; BSNL & MTNL too increase count: After it emerged that the prepaid segment is contributing positively on the ARPU and MoU front, a new revelation has come out in Trai’s latest figures released for March wherein the subscriber base of fixedline services is shown to be on growing side. This trend has long been eluding fixedline operators for many years. March saw the subscribe base of fixedline services reach 37.96 million as compared to 37.73 million in February, an increase of 0.23 million. State-run PSUs BSNL (117,004 increase) and MTNL (59,057) both managed to increase their fixedline subscriber base. This fact should be heartening for BSNL which has seen regular erosion of its fixedline subscriber base for the last few years. Broadband base too increased by 0.37 million to record 6.22 million subscribers at the end of March 2009. Total wireless subscriber base reached 391.76 million with 15.64 million new subscribers added in March as compared to 13.82 million added in February. India’s total telecom subscriber base scaled to 429.72 million with tele-density touching the 36.98 percent mark. (TT)

• 22.04.2009:BSNL sets up unit for overseas foray:  'Moving aggressively on its overseas expansion plans, state-run BSNL has set up a separate international business division to explore telecom opportunities abroad.' Read More...

• 18.04.2009: Govt mulls ITI merger with BSNL says report: The government may reportedly merge financially troubled ITI with BSNL, a move which may add more financial stress to BSNL which itself is facing dwindling financial results. As per The Times of India report, the move may put BSNL under stress which is facing supply side constraints and competitive pressures. A senior official is quoted to have said that ITI does not have manufacturing capabilities now and its present line of business is in low margin business verticals implying a remote possibility of turn around for the company. (TT)

• 14.04.2009: BSNL MARKET SHARE LOOKS UP: BSNL market share in GSM sector improves marginally in March 2009, after continuous downtrend for a very long time. 25,03,169 connections have been provided during March 2009, a growth rate of 5.67% over  previous month, taking the market share from 15.94% to 16.19%.  Vodofone has overtaken Bharti Airtel in number of GSM connections provided in March 2009.  View All India GSM figures for March 2009...

• 11.04.2009:Please read some Telecom News of the week end...

• 05.04.2009: Race for top TRAI job heats up: 'Significantly, Mr Sharma’s entry into the race has also surprised telecom industry circles. Especially, since the apex search panel has already shortlisted four contenders -- finance secretary Arun Ramanathan, consumer affairs secretary Yashwant Bhave, member (technology) in the Telecom Commission K Sridhara and former finance director of BSNL S.D Saxena -- for the post of Trai chairman.' Read More...

• 05.04.2009: 11-digit mobile number may come soon:The telecom department had come up with a 30-year numbering plan in 2003 but the fast growth in the telecom subscriber base has forced the authority to relook into its policy and consider 11-digit numbering system. Read More...

• 24.03.2009: BSNL to lease out telecom towers in semi-urban areas: BSNL has decided to lease out its passive infrastructure, that includes towers mainly, to other telecom companies in semi- urban areas in the country. A senior official of the PSU today said that "since we have more towers in tier-II and -III cities, we have decided to lease out those towers with unutilised capacity to the operators." The agreement would be on bilateral basis, he said. Aimed at generating more revenue and fully utilising the huge tower base, BSNL plans to cash in on its pan-India presence. It operates all over India, except Delhi and Mumbai. The PSU plans to lease out its Ground Based Towers in circles such as Andaman and Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Chhatisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Uttranchal and West Bengal. BSNL has over 60,000 towers and the most of them are in semi-urban areas where private operators have small footprint. According to the industry analysts, erecting one cell site costs about Rs 30 lakh, which takes the most of the cost and time for any operator. (PTI)

• 20.03.2009:BSNL, MTNL refuse to halt 3G-based video call services: BSNL and MTNL have refused to stop offering their video call services over 3G network saying that the services are fully compliant from security point of view and the real time monitoring of such services is possible. The two firms have responded to the DoT notice asking them to stop these services following concerns raised by the government security agencies. The agencies had pointed out that real time monitoring of calls was not possible and hence these services should be stopped immediately. MTNL had earlier said that the onus of installing the right equipments to monitor such services laid in the hands of the security agencies. -TT

• 11.03.2009: TRAI slashes call termination charges : "India is divided into 22 telecom circles and calls within a circle are carried only by state owned BSNL, which charges 20 paise per minute. The regulator has slashed this to 15 paise per minute. This would benefit private operators but will mean a loss of revenue for BSNL." Read More...

• 10.03.2009: Security clouds still hover over BSNL & MTNL 3G video call services: 3G seems to have entered India on a negative note as the services offered BSNL and MTNL are under scanner from the Intelligence Bureau. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is of the opinion that real time monitoring of the video call services offered as part of 3G services by the two firms is not possible. It has asked the two companies to demonstrate such a monitoring. “The IB was of the view that till such facility is not made available by the service providers, the various services should not be offered to the subscribers. Therefore, MTNL and BSNL may not provide such services to subscribers till monitoring is not available with IB,” said a DoT note to the two firms following IB concerns. The two companies however are in a complete state of denial. An MTNL official has reportedly stated that the onus of deploying proper and compatible monitoring mechanisms lies with the IB and hence it should not be held responsible. The two PSUs have gained head start advantage over its private counterparts by way of being granted 3G spectrum. While there are other services also on offer as part of the 3G services, the two PSUs incidentally have given more prominence to the video call services and in fact both the firms marked their respective 3G service launch with the video call feature. (Courtesy: TT)

• 01.03.2009 :BSNL launches 3G services commercially in 11 cities: As a positive sign of BSNL's Market challenging capability, BSNL has launched its 3G services commercially in 11 cities - Agra, Ambala, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Dehra Dun, Ranchi, Shimla, Lucknow, Durgapur, Haldia and Patna. It has already completed the soft launch in Chennai and Jammu. MTNL was the first telecom company to launch 3G services, in New Delhi.  Both BSNL and MTNL were allotted 3G spectrum ahead of the auction as the government exempted them from participating in auctions  to tide over the procedural delays the PSU firms are subject to. Auction for 3G has been postponed and it may take atleast another six months for other private operators to join the race. We should take advantage of the position and do vigorous marketing to atleast partially improve our Market Share. BSNL has also announced  its tariff plans. In a Rs 2,500 plan, a rate of Re 1 per minute for video call has been fixed. The voice call would be available for 10 paise per minute under monthly rental plan of Rs 1,000.

• 12.02.2009:All India GSM subscriber figures for January 2009: View sheet...

• 10.02.2009: DoT alleges operators not passing revenues earned under bundled handset offerings: The DoT has sought clarification from operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular for what it alleges failure of these operators to report revenues earned through bundled handset offerings. “It has been noticed that no revenue is being shown under the account head from sales of handsets in the quarterly statement of revenue and licence fee submitted by you on self-assessment basis as per terms and conditions of the licence agreement. It has been pointed out to the department that bundled minutes are being offered discounting the cost of handset by the companies. The revenues from this activity are not being indicated in the declared self-assessed adjusted gross revenue (AGR) submitted by your company in the year 2006-07 and 2007-08,” said DoT. “The service is also shown as generating nil revenue in the current year. The definition of AGR in the licence condition and the norms for preparing of accounts in the licence are being violated to this extent. It is required that clarifications on the above may be furnished to DoT at the earliest,” added DoT. (Courtesy: TT)

• 05.10.2008:Two positive developments have been reported today. 1. BSNL opposes merging ailing ITI with itself: 'According to highly placed sources, BSNL has informed the Communication and IT Minister A Raja that merger of ITI would severely dent the financial position of the telecom service provider'. Read More...

• 05.10.2008:2. Inter-ministerial group to recommend navratna status for BSNL:'Almost after seven years, government-owned telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL)’s dream of becoming a navratna company may true. The Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) has agreed to recommend the BSNL’s case for navratna status to the apex committee for navratna PSUs.' Read More...

• 01.10.2008: BSNL makes profit of Rs 3009 Crores during 2007-08:  The AGM of BSNL held on 23.09.2008 has approved the financial result of the Company for the year 2007-08. According to the approved result, BSNL’s total income for the year 2007-08 was Rs 38,053 Crores and profit after tax was Rs 3009 Crores. Dividend payable to the Government was approved as Rs 1500 Crores.  The profit is much less compared to last year. 

• 25.08.2008:TDSAT impleads COAI in BSNL petition: Accepting the request of GSM operators' body COAI, the telecom tribunal TDSAT has today impleaded it in the petition filed by state-run BSNL challenging removal of Access Deficit Charge (ADC). Read More...

• 08.08.2008:MoC pulls up BSNL on slow growth of value added service biz: Concerned over the slow growth of BSNL, Telecom Minister A Raja has asked Department of Telecom to work out a mechanism where important decisions could be expedited fast to drive more revenue for the PSU. Read More...

• 08.08.2008:BSNL unions reject share offer of Rs 2 lakh/employee:According to Mr Raja, BSNL would list at Rs 300-400, pegging the BSNL’s valuation at $37-45 billion, which is not even half of the $100 billion valuation that the company’s management has been claiming since January 2008. Read More...

• 07.08.2008:BSNL denies advantage in 3G field: BSNL has denied any first mover advantage in the 3G arena, despite the award of 3G spectrum ahead of private sector players. Last week, telecom minister, A Raja, while announcing the 3G guidelines, had said BSNL/MTNL would be given 3G spectrum with immediate effect and would pay the eventual highest bid price only after the 3G auctions. Read More...

• 02.08.2008:BSNL Board clears 10% IPO plan:The BSNL board has cleared the company’s proposed $10-billion listing, a top Department of Telcom (DoT) official told Economic Times on Friday. Read More...

• 02.08.2008:Minister of Communications, while announcing the guidelines for 3G, has announced the guidelines for Mobile Number Portability also. As per the guidelines, MNP would first start in the four metros in next two months and subsequently roll out in rest of the country over the next 6-12 months. As per the guidelines, the whole country will be divided into two MNP zones consisting of 11 service areas with two metros in each zone. The MNP service provider and the mobile operators would not be allowed to have equity (direct or indirect) stake in each other's operations.

• 27.07.2008:BSNL's IPO back on track? Economic Times reports that 'the finance ministry has asked BSNL to go ahead with laying the groundwork for the country’s largest-ever listing. Top BSNL sources confirmed that the PSU would start reconciliation process with its employee unions soon, while also adding that the telco was all set to begin ‘preparatory work’ for the proposed listing.' Read More...

• 11.06.2008:Another controversy relating to BSNL purchase order: A move by Swedish telecom major Ericsson, the main implementation partner for BSNL's disaster recovery (DR) program, to replace Sun Microsystems and EMC Corporation storage solutions with Hewlett-Packard (HP) products has kicked up a controversy. Read More...

• 08.06.2008:BSNL revises tariff for its Post-paid & Pre-paid mobile subscribers and Landline/Wll subscribers. View revised tariff for 1. Post-paid mobile     2.Pre-paid mobile         3. Landline/WLL

• 30.05.2008: BSNL moots IPO Plan again: BSNL might be back on track with its plans for its intial public offer (IPO). The public sector enterprise has put forward a proposal for approval of its IPO to its trade union which is expected to respond in positive by the 3rd of next month. Read More...

• 29.05.2008: While a lot of frightening is being attempted over the financial condition of BSNL, statistics say that BSNL continues to be the top earning telecom firm in the country. For the Quarter ending March 2008 (Q4) its topline touched Rs 10,747.79 crore followed by Sunil Mittal's Bharti at Rs 8,381 crore. Read More...

• 23.05.2008:It is learnt that Cabinet has returned the note on absorption of ITS Group A, with some queries, to DoT. It may be recalled that AIBSNLOA had brought to the notice of Prime Minister about the unusual concessions mooted in the note for ITS Group A by way of offering absorption from a prospective date after implementation of VI CPC recommendations. We had appealed to the Prime Minister that in case this concession is allowed for ITS Group A,  all Employees including the Group A Officers who took absorption earlier should get seniority over the later optees and they should also be given the benefit to take absorption with prospective date.

• 22.05.2008: Motorola Inc has won a $90 million contract from Indian state-run telecoms firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to supply GSM network equipment, the US-based firm said in a statement. The deal will help BSNL, the fourth largest wireless telecoms firm in India, add 2.3 million subscribers in southern India, Motorola said (Times of India).

• 20.05.2008: TDSAT seeks  explanation from DoT on condonation of delay in filing suit: The telecom tribunal TDSAT today asked DoT to explain the grounds on which it was asking for condonation of delay in filing petition seeking claims of Rs 2,015 crore from private telecom operator Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited. The tribunal observed that the government has filed petition to reclaim Rs 2,015 crore from TTML almost ten months after the Supreme Court's direction to approach TDSAT again. Read More...

• 09.05.2008: In a positive turn of event, Secretary, DoT is reported to have agreed to revise the earlier DoT order dated 15th June 2006 restricting DoT's pension contribution to 60% of whatever spectrum charges, taxes and other fees payable by BSNL  to Govt. of India.  A cabinet note in this regard is under preparation.

• 09.05.2008: BSNL has floated a new tender for 93 million GSM lines. Read More...

• 09.05.2008: Second Pay Revision Committee for PSUs is expected to submit its report by this month end. Read More...

• 09.05.2008: In a positive turn of event, Secretary, DoT is reported to have agreed to revise the earlier DoT order dated 15th June 2006 restricting DoT's pension contribution to 60% of whatever spectrum charges, taxes and other fees payable by BSNL  to Govt. of India.  A cabinet note in this regard is under preparation.

• 09.05.2008: BSNL has floated a new tender for 93 million GSM lines. Read More...

• 09.05.2008: Second Pay Revision Committee for PSUs is expected to submit its report by this month end. Read More...

• 06.05.2008:Admitting the plea of BSNL over removal of the Access Deficit Charge (ADC), the rural remuneration levy, Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Monday issued notice to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.(The Hindu)

• 02.05.2008: There are some good news for BSNL. One, the Supreme Court of India has dismissed the petitions of TATA and Reliance Comm. while upholding the TDSAT decision directing these companies to pay ADC to BSNL, which had been challenged by these two companies. These companies together will now have to pay around Rs.700 crores to BSNL. Read More...

• 02.05.2008:And the other, BSNL has decided to approach TDSAT against TRAI's decision to do away with ADC w.e.f. 1.4.08.

• 27.03.2008: TRAI has announced that private telecom operators will be exempted from paying ADC to BSNL w.e.f. 1st April 2008, TRAI is reported to have recommended to the government to provide Rs 2,000 crore to BSNL annually for a period of 3 years to compensate the loss of ADC account. BSNL was getting Rs 5,000 crore annually through ADC till about two years ago.

• 13.03.2008: The latest Comptroller and Auditor General Report on BSNL says that an amount of 3665.51 crores was outstanding against various categories of telephone subscribers at the end of June 2007. The outstanding amount is increasing year by year and almost approaching the revenue surplus in a year. We had pointed out in our Circular-1 that 'the BSNL management  has no answer as to why no serious effort is being made to recover several thousand crores of unpaid bills which goes on increasing from year to year.' The CAG report confirms our concern. Read More...