The Cabinet Approval Procedure
As per the latest information, the draft of the Cabinet
note will be completed by mid-October. It’ll then be floated for
consultation among the ministries. Sources say that then a revised
Cabinet note will be drafted. PTI reported that the Cabinet will be
approached by DoT sometime in November with the revised Cabinet note.
4G Proposal by BSNL and MTNL
BSNL has already furnished the government with a detailed report on 4G services.
The report provides details on the state-owned PSUs plans to seek the
4G spectrum in exchange for equity. Minister of State (Independent
Charge) of the Ministry of Communications, Manoj Sinha had informed the
Parliament earlier about BSNL wanting equity infusion of Rs.6,652 crores
from the government. The capital would be used by BSNL to fund its
purchase of spectrum that costs somewhere around Rs.13,885 crores.
Chairman and Managing Director BSNL, Anupam Shrivastava had
in a chat with PTI, and disclosed the company’s spectrum purchase plan.
The telco was looking to acquire 2100MHz band across the country except
for Rajasthan where the 800MHz is sufficient enough. Chairman and MD,
public sector telecom operator MTNL, P. K. Purwar asked the government
to allocate them the 4G spectrum in exchange of Rs. 6,500-Rs. 7,000
crores worth of equity. The company also requested an extension of its
mobile license expiring next year, till 2021.
In mid-September Sinha had accepted that MTNL and BSNL are
operating on 3G network in a market that migrated to 4G speeds a long
time ago. He confessed that the state-owned telcos are facing
difficulties surviving without 4G spectrum. But he assured that the
government is working towards rectifying the situation. Strategies are
being devised to settle the issues that cropped up because of many
decisions are taken by the Apex Court.
Sinha promised that he will try his level best to get the
two government-owned telcos 4G spectrum before the end of 2018. He
insisted that he will ensure the government decides on the allocation
soon and to not let the issue getting stretched until next year. BSNL,
as we all know, has a countrywide network except for in Mumbai and Delhi
which fall under MTNL’s operating circles.
Expectations from BSNL 4G Services
BSNL was planning to launch its 4G services in 2014. But
the telecom operator didn’t get the necessary 4G spectrum allocated by
the government. This resulted in BSNL losing out on offering 4G services
to its subscribers when private telcos were busy migrating their users
to the high-speed internet services.
The delay has been considered for the government to have
realized the loss the state-owned telco has suffered because of this
hold-up. With the competition in the telecom space growing fiercer by
the day, providing services on-time will be a key factor in staying
above the danger-line.
In preparation of the launch of its 4G services as early as
next year, BSNL has begun distribution of 4G enabled SIMs in some
areas. This would allow its subscribers to be ready once the telco
introduces 4G in the market. Even without 4G services on offer, BSNL has
managed to build quite an impressive customer base within the last two
years. With the launch of 4G services now imminent, the user base for
BSNL is expected to grow even more.
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