In a letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has stated that it will not roll out Wi-Max services in rural areas without adequate financial support. The operator has said that the work-without-pay practice used to run unviable businesses incurs huge capital and operational expenditure and has led to significant losses for the company. For the first time since its inception, the company registered a loss of Rs 18.22 billion for the year to end March 2010.
BSNL has cited that Rs 23.95 billion is the minimum amount required to setup and run the rural Wi-Max project on a no-profit or loss basis.
The project is divided into three parts. Under the first phase, about 1,000 towers for Wi-Max are to be set up, followed by 6,863 units in the second phase. BSNL has told DoT that it is close to completing the rollout of the first phase.
