“BSNL and MTNL will remain to be important players in the telecom industry. They also have to show efficiency,” Dhotre told ETTelecom, adding that the two state-run service providers offer cost-friendly services to consumers.
Dhotre’s comments hold significance in the wake of ongoing revival process undertaken by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government that has also recently formed Home Minister Amit Shah-headed Group of Ministers (GoM).
Recently, senior Cabinet minister Ravi Shankar Prasad<\/a> in the Parliament said that there was no proposal to shut down BSNL and MTNL, and a comprehensive plan for their revival was underway—putting speculations that the government wanted to shut down two telcos, to rest.
The rejuvenation plan for the two carriers include allowing a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to the workforce; monetisation of real estate, towers and fibre assets; and allocation of fourth-generation (4G<\/a>) airwaves.
The VRS package to employees attaining 50 years of age would entail an expense of Rs 6,365 crore for BSNL, and Rs 2,120 crore for MTNL, while the proposed land and telecom infrastructure monetisation is expected to bring an estimated Rs 1.75 lakh crore cash.
BSNL and MTNL have been financially stressed due to high revenue-to-wage ratio.
“State-owned operators particularly BSNL ventures into rural and far-flung areas enabling people to digitally connected whereas private sector telcos do not apparently find the business much lucrative in those areas,” he said.
BSNL, according to Dhotre, also remains at the forefront in situations of natural calamities, and quick to offer free services to consumers impacted by cyclones or floods.
In May this year, during Odisha<\/a>’s severe cyclone Fani, BSNL appeared to be the ‘first responder’ which had also set up emergency helpline besides offering free voice and SMS to subscribers.
In one of the worst floods in Kerala last year, BSNL offered unlimited free calls and data services within its network as well as limited calls to rival networks together with 100 SMS per day for a week to customers.
In FY 2018-19, BSNL’s enterprise business has collected a record revenue of Rs 6,500 crore, and despite heightened market rivalry after Reliance Jio<\/a>’s disruptive entry in 2016, telco’s consumer business continues to be stable.
BSNL that has industry-lowest debt of Rs 20,000 crore, operates pan-India except Delhi and Mumbai metropolitans where MTNL offer voice and data services.
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