nion minister for communications and information technology rules out the unbundling of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited’s fixed lines

The union minister for communications and information technology, Dayanidhi Maran, has ruled out the unbundling of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited’s (MTNL) fixed lines to provide broadband access to private telecom players. The two public sector units (PSUs) have a wider network than most of the private telecom companies and the demand for unbundling was intended to make telecom services more affordable. DoT also rejected the private players’ proposals on the grounds that it would stifle infrastructure-based competition and technical innovations as the new entrants would prefer to “parasitise” the incumbent’s network instead of building their own.