Last month, GoI stepped in at a critical juncture to provide a much-needed lifeline to the struggling telecom sector, particularly Vodafone Idea (Vi), to maintain at least three operators –
, Jio and Vi – for competition. However, it would be even better to have a fourth operator, BSNL – especially if it’s merged with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd () – that is re-energised post-privatisation.
With 120 crore (fixed and mobile) subscribers, one of the lowest tariffs and second-largest internet user base (75 crore broadband subscribers) in the world, India’s telecom network is the second largest in the world. According to a GSMA’s study, ‘The Mobile Economy India 2016’ (bit.ly/ 30giSUj), the telecom sector accounted for 6.5% of the national GDP in 2015, about Rs 9 lakh crore ($130 billion), supporting direct employment for 2.2 million people in the country. It estimates that the sector will contribute over Rs 14.5 lakh crore ($200 billion) to the economy, and support 3 million direct jobs and 2 million indirect jobs by this year.
Telecom services are governed by the Indian Telegraph Act 1885, giving the GoI’s Department of Telecom (DoT) exclusive jurisdiction and privileges for establishing, maintaining, operating, licensing and oversight of all such communications. In the 1999 New Telecom Policy (NTP-99), the policy and licensing functions of DoT were separated from its service provision functions. As a precursor to corporatisation, the Department of Telecom Operations (DTO) was carved out for the purpose.
Accordingly, BSNL was formed on October 1, 2000, as a public limited company – not a statutory corporation – so as to be able to raise funds and be…