OneIndia and Number portability opposed

Posted on | December 30, 2005 |

Two proposals which if implemented can change the dynamics of the market and are a boon to the consumers are being opposed by government controlled entities.

BSNL opposes IndiaOne:

Government-owned BSNL has opposed Union communications minister Dayanidhi Maran’s proposal for OneIndia tariff. It has said that the company would lose over Rs 4,500 crore per annum and it will have to make additional investments of over Rs 10,000 crore in its network to upgrade its network to meet the growing demand of the tariff.

The cost of setting up a rural telephone is more than 50per cent of the total investment required to install a phone in urban area. Moreover, the revenues in rural area is only 33per cent of the revenue generated in urban area. With reduction in surplus with BSNL, the expansion of network in rural area will stop, said BSNL.

DoT against number portability:

With a tele-density of just 11 per cent, number portability is not advsiable at this moment. Moreover, this has the possible impact of adding to the overall cost of the network of operators and fuel high call charges, official sources said, adding no action is expected on this front.

Telcom companies expect their additional spend on infrastructure to go up by about 10 per cent if number portability is implemented.

Comments