Govt telcos in talks with pvt operators to share spectrum

To generate more revenue, government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) have started discussion with private telecom companies, to share spectrum. "We are talking to two-three private operators. We have unutilised spectrum in many locations, in different circles," a senior BSNL official told Business Standard.

MTNL offers services in Delhi and Mumbai; BSNL in the rest of the country. Both have been struggling to survive in the competitive sector, losing a lot of money for quite a while. BSNL had a loss of Rs 7,600 crore in 2014-15. MTNL's loss in this financial year's first quarter was Rs 745 crore.

The move could help private telcos address the issue of a rise in call drops, with more spectrum. It will also help them raise efficiency of their spectrum use.

BSNL was already in discussion with some private telcos for intra-circle roaming arrangements. Now that the government has allowed sharing of spectrum, the talks have been hastened, its official said. However, to allow spectrum sharing between two big telecom entities, the government needs to relax the spectrum cap limits. The department of telecom had internally decided not to do so. According to the existing rules, an operator cannot hold more than 25 per cent of the spectrum assigned to all companies in a particular circle or more than 50 per cent of spectrum assigned in a particular frequency band.

The caps mainly prohibit any sharing or trading among operators with large spectrum holdings.

PAYING THE PRICE

• BSNL's loss in 2014-15 was Rs 7,600 crore
   
• MTNL's loss in this financial year's first quarter was Rs 745 crore