Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher
India’s BSNL asks for $1.8bn state aid
18 January 2010
BSNL, the Indian government-owned operator, is asking for state aid, a freeze on interest payments, and preferential purchasing by regional and national government bodies
Read more:
BSNL
India
Kuldeep Goyal
MTNL
Bharti Airtel
Vodafone Essar
Tata
Reliance
Comment: It appears there are two Indian telecoms economies. On the one side, vibrant companies such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Tata and Reliance are busy carving out profitable businesses selling much-needed mobile services to a vast range of the country, from India’s rich to India’s slum-dwellers. On the other side, the state-controlled operators are handed free 3G licences — as is happening to BSNL and MTNL — and are pleading for special subsidies and competition-free public contracts.
India’s state-owned operator BSNL — Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited — is seeking $1.88 billion in government aid over the next two years. The company is also looking for an extension of standstill on interest payments of government loans worth $1.53 billion.
The company has asked the prime minister’s office to direct all central and state governments to compulsorily subscribe to its services. BSNL has sought either exemption or reimbursement of licence fee and spectrum charges, besides compensating for losses on its telegraph business.
A drop in landline connections has harmed its finances by $767 million during 2007-08 and 2008-09.
The company may also face losses of $1 billion on buying equipment for expanding its mobile networks. In December 2009, BSNL’s board had postponed its tender for 93 million GSM lines, after the Central Vigilance Commission, an anti-corruption organisation, started an investigation into the deal. GTB
More from GTB
Interview with Kuldeep Goyal, head of BSNL: http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/Article/2199395/Red-tape-entwines-BSNL-Interview-Kuldeep-Goyal.html