Government extends BSNL's unified license for 20 years, takes Rs 250-crore BG

 NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has extended the unified license (UL) for the next 20 years to state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and has also allowed to offer services in Delhi and Mumbai metropolitan areas after the latter has submitted a bank guarantee (BG) worth Rs 250-crore.

"We are now able to offer services in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) as well as Mumbai metropolitan," PK Purwar, chairman, BSNL told ETTelecom.

On December 10, the department has signed an agreement with BSNL, saying that the “license shall be valid for a period of 20 years from the effective date of this license unless revoked for reasons specified elsewhere in the document."

The license has been approved with effect from February 29, 2020. The state-owned telco has been offering services on an ad-hoc basis since then, while the renewal has become one of the many contentious issues between the state-owned telco and the department.

The license has been granted in consideration of the entry fee, license fee and due performance of terms and conditions by the licensee, the document said.

Now, this means that the BSNL would manage the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) network in the metropolitan regions following the operational synergy between the two telcos ahead of a full-fledged merger between them which has though been approved by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed Cabinet in October, 2019. 

The license has been extended to continue nationwide services such as voice telephony, national long distance (NLD), international long distance (ISD), very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT), and the Public Mobile Radio Trunking Services (PMRTS) services.

"The license hereby agrees and unequivocally undertakes to fully comply with all terms and conditions stipulated in this license agreement and without any deviation or reservations of any kind," the agreement document between the two added.

The unified license has been provided on a non-exclusive basis and additional licenses may be issued in any service area without entry conditions.

The beleaguered telecom carrier has though been demanding renewal of license from the DoT’s wireless planning division since long considering the February expiry date.

Following the issuance of the licence, the telco would be able to provide seamless 2G, 3G and 4G services across all telecom circles in the 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2500 spectrum bands.