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K. Giriprakash

BANGALORE, April 24

THE State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), which displaced Spice Telecom from the position of the second largest cellular company in Karnataka within five months of its launch, has attributed its success to its extensive network in the State.

Spice Telecom has, however, said that it will reclaim its original position soon and has attributed the development to churn in the industry. "Subscribers will come back to us soon," a Spice Telecom official said.

For 2002-03, BSNL had a total subscriber base of 2.02 lakh overtaking Spice Telecom which had a base of 1.93 lakh. Bharti Mobile leads the pack with a subscriber base of 3.64 lakh while the fourth operator, Hutchison Essar has 63,724 subscribers. Karnataka has a total of 8.21 lakh subscribers.

The BSNL General Manager for mobile service, Mr M.C. Kalkura, told Business Line that BSNL has been able to grow fast because of its extensive network even in the interior parts of the state. "Our reach is far more extensive than the others," he said.

He added that their pre-paid tariff structure was more popular and gave more value for money.

Mr Kalkura said that the company plans to nearly double its subscriber base to 4.2 lakh during the current year. He said BSNL has been adding around 2,000 subscribers daily and its base currently stands at 2.41 lakh. "We have set a target of 4.2 lakh for the current fiscal year," he added.

He said the company plans to increase its investment in the State during the current year though fresh funds have not been earmarked so far.

BSNL plans to invest around Rs 3,000 crore in all its circles during the current year. During 2002-03, BSNL invested around Rs 150 crore in the Karnataka circle.

Mr Kalkura said that BSNL had been able to overcome the shortage of SIM cards and has so far issued 3 lakh SIM cards out of which 2.41 lakh are in use.

Admitting the reach of BSNL, a Spice Telecom official said the State-owned mobile operator had performed well and its entry had expanded the market. "They have opened up segments which wasn't there before," the official said.

But the official said that private operators are at a disadvantageous position because of BSNL's access to more funds. "They have easier access to funds and can get them at cheaper rates," he said.

The Spice Telecom official said that private companies are answerable to their board of directors and funds are released on the basis of the milestones achieved.

"But we have our plans ready and will get back to our original position soon," he added.

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