The Hindu Business Line : BSNL to finalise GSM tender in 2 months

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd plans to finalise its mega GSM tender for 60 million lines within two months and expects to shortlist two of the five remaining in fray for three zones.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr A.K. Sinha, said of this, the West Zone has been set apart for public sector companies and the rest of the three zones will be for global participants.

Rs 17,000-cr Capex

Citing this as one of the largest telecom tenders, Mr Sinha said BSNL has set apart a capital expenditure of Rs 17,000 crore this year, and plans to fund most of this through internal accruals.

Hinting at the revenues during 2005-2006 now being finalised, Mr Sinha said the company is poised to record total revenues of Rs 39,500 crore (a growth of about 9.5 per cent over last fiscal) and a slightly lower net which could be close to Rs 10,000 crore. The lower net would be due to the changing nature of business and intense competition in the telecom sector.

BSNL, which now has about 18 million cell phone users, will create a capacity to add about 60 million lines over the next three years, with20 million lines to be added each year.

Convergence market

Referring to the convergence market, Mr Sinha said BSNL expects to offer triple play services that would bring television along with other telecom services. Pilots are proposed to be launched and will be replicated gradually.

Broadband

BSNL accounts for about seven lakh broadband connections of the 11 lakh installed in the country. It plans to add about 2 million this year. "The landline, which witnessed intense pressure lately, is set to pick up again with the broadband we plan to offer, as both of these services are offered on the same cable,'' he said.

"There has been considerable strain on fixed line services and the facilities mobile phones offer are far more superior. This has also meant that many new connections are wireless mobile phones rather then landlines. But we expect this to change. We are in the process of planning innovative schemes that will make it attractive to opt for landlines," he said.

Satelite phone network

"A Rs 150-crore satellite phone network covering 14,000 villages in the country will be implemented during the year. Though this technology is costlier, we plan to deploy this in areas where we are finding it difficult to reach our cable network," Mr Sinha said.