The state owned telecom operators, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) have entered into an agreement with the Indian Air Force (IAF) to provide the latter a whole range of telecom services.
As part of the agreement IAF will be providing space to BSNL and MTNL for installation of towers and equipment. The tie-up would result in BSNL and MTNL providing telecom services including basic telephony, mobile telephony, broadband services, internet services and leased lines, MPLS-VPN and VSAT services to IAF.
Also, the telecom services offered by BSNL and MTNL will include common group users CUG facility on mobile phones and value added services on mobile and landline phones, optic fiber connectivity as per IAF requirements.
The wide-range of services will be provided to IAF on concessional basis. With the agreement coming into effect, both PSUs will become the most preferred service provider by IAF.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is also exploring the possibility of a grand alliance between service providers, BSNL and MTNL, along with research body C-DoT, gear maker India Telephone Industries (ITI) and Telecommunication Consultants of India Ltd (TCIL) to ring in operational synergies among these telecom PSUs.
