The Group of Ministers in charge of reviving state-run telecom operators, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), is considering taking over both the operators? entire debt and waiving off their licence fees and spectrum charges for three financial years.
As on April 1, 2013 MTNL and BSNL had a total debt of Rs 84.77 billion and 25.61 billion respectively. In addition, MTNL and BSNL?s licence fee and bandwidth usage charges for the three financial years starting April 1, 2013 and ending March 31, 2016 amount to Rs 111.49 billion and 89.3 billion, respectively.
The Ministerial Group is also considering allowing the two operators to surrender bandwidth in few of the circles and to refund – totally or on a pro-rata basis – the fees paid by BSNL and MTNL for acquiring broadband spectrum.
BSNL, which offers services in 20 of the 22 service areas, paid Rs 83.13 billion for acquiring broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum. MTNL, on the other hand, had acquired the BWA spectrum in the Delhi and Mumbai circles for Rs 45.33 billion.
The Ministerial Group is examining the proposal of allowing BSNL to surrender their spectrum in the circles of Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. MTNL, on its part, would surrender bandwidth in both the Delhi and Mumbai circles. In case of a full refund, BSNL is likely to get Rs 67.24 billion while MTNL could get Rs 45.33 billion.
