Govt unveils strategic plan for operational synergy of telecom PSUs

Government today unveiled an ambitious plan for bringing together state-owned telecom organisations for greater operational synergy, including effective utilisation of human resources as well as land and buildings.
The strategic plan outlined by the Department of Telecom (DoT) will allow greater synergies amongst the state owned entities and pave the way for them to jointly tap business and opportunities in promising areas like 5G, and Internet of Things.
The action plan covers seven entities -- Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Indian Telephone Industries Ltd (ITI), Centre for Development of Telematics (CDOT), Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL), Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipments (TEC), BharatNet (BBNL).

Speaking on the occasion, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said the public sector companies play a strategic role in nurturing and enhancing the government's intervention capabilities in matters of protection of consumer interests, disaster management and national security.
These organisations need to work in tandem in the market, to face competition, address new business opportunities arising from Government initiatives like Digital India and Smart City, and for optimum utilisation of their resources, he added.
The Minister cited the examples of BharatNet and the turnaround of ITI to underscore the positive outcomes of the strategic plan for the telecom PSUs.

"Under the strategic plan, we have identified specific areas where our teams will work on including manpower, settlement of legal issues and utilisation of vacant space, land and buildings. I am pleased to see the focus on clearly-defined timelines and performance indicators," Sinha said.

He emphasised it is "critical" that substantial and tangible progress is make under the strategic plan in the next six months. A review mechanism at Department of Telecom (DoT) will keep the plans on track, Sinha added.
The strategic plan -- the work on which began in January 2016 -- entails amongst other things, an effective utilisation of Human Resources including deriving synergies in training of manpower, and creation of a common platform for web based online training by BSNL, in a time bound manner.
Other aspects include operational utilisation of vacant space, land and buildings within telecom PSUs and organisations within DoT, and promoting Make in India by taking advantage of preferential market access policy.

Also, the telecom PSUs will refrain from going to court against one another and, instead, first approach DoT for dispute resolution.
The strategic roadmap will also cover other areas like standards and certification, and preparing to tap opportunities in areas like 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).
During the event today, MoUs were also exchanged between various PSUs under the strategic plan.
BSNL, BBNL, MTNL, TCIL, and ITI through a MoU have also developed a framework to address payment issues that arise among them during execution of various business contracts.
Agreements were also signed between CDoT, ITI and TCIL pertaining to export of products, ITI and CDOT for transfer of technology, and between MTNL, ITI and CDoT for joint execution of Internet of Things and smart city projects.