BSNL in spectrum talks with telcos

Expects to earn Rs 300-400 cr/year via intra-circle roaming pacts

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is keen to cash in on spectrum sharing and trading. The state-run telecom firm is also in talks with private telcos for intra-circle roaming (ICR) agreements to share its passive infrastructure.

BSNL expects to earn Rs 300-400 crore a year through ICR arrangements starting the next financial year. Along with spectrum sharing, revenue expectations will go much higher, its chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava told Business Standard. In ICR agreements, passive infrastructure such as base transceiver stations will be shared among the operators when a subscriber of an operator roams in that circle.

"We have started discussions with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular on spectrum sharing. We are working out the modalities and will soon come up with proposals for the same. A deal, though, is six to 12 months away," said Shrivastava.

Private operators, especially Bharti Airtel, have been asking the government for more spectrum, and with the opening up of sharing and trading norms, telcos are looking to strike deals with potential firms to share the scarce resource.

BSNL has idle spectrum in many locations. "It (spectrum sharing and trading) will be a huge revenue potential for us," Shrivastava added.

For ICR, BSNL has been talking to Telenor, Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel and Reliance Group and a deal will be closed very soon.

Spectrum sharing and trading will allow operators to pool their spectrum in a particular location in a licensed circle to ease congestion and increase capacity. It will also help in improving the quality of services. Through such pacts, operators will not have to wait for the auction round by the government to get spectrum.

BSNL, which recorded Rs 7,600 crore of loss for the previous financial year, expects to cuts its losses by Rs 1,000-1,500 crore for 2015-16.

SPECTRUM ON BSNL SPEED DIAL

• he Cabinet had recently given its nod to BSNL for hiving off its towers into a separate company. BSNL expects Rs 10,000-15,000 crore revenues from the tower unit once it is operational
   
• BSNL's mobile services contribute Rs 13,500 crore revenue, of which Rs 1,350 crore comes from data. From broadband, BSNL earns Rs 7,500 crore