No proposal to merge BSNL and MTNL: Manoj Sinha

“There is no proposal to merge BSNL and MTNL. We had appointed a consultant to revive MTNL, who has given some recommendations. We are working on it,” he said.

He, however, did not elaborate on the recommendations of the consultant but reiterated that no merger proposal for the state-run firms is on the cards. 

The publicly-listed MTNL serves the national capital and financial capital alone, while the unlisted BSNL serves the rest of the country and also anchors several key projects for the government.

A media report recently had quoted an unnamed official saying that there is a proposal given by the central public sector enterprises to merge all the state-run telecom firms, to create a public sector behemoth. 

Sinha, who was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on 5G technology, said the government will do it all to ensure that the country gets the latest generation telephone services. “Getting 5G to reality is our government’s priority and we are serious about it,” he said. 

BSNL’s CMD Anupam Shrivastava quoted some estimates which peg the total investments required for a pan-India rollout of 5G services at up to Rs 50 lakh crore but affirmed that the industry will deploy the technology by December 2019. 

The entry of Reliance Jio in 2016, coupled with policy initiatives like the deep cut in the interconnect user charges have led to financial troubles at a majority of the telecom companies, consolidation in the sector and job losses.

Asked if the government will help by way of cheaper availability of spectrum given the importance of 5G, Sinha hinted that the department may help by approaching the Supreme Court (SC), which had passed a judgement asking for sale of spectrum assets.

“There’s a SC order in 2G case. We are bound by that. We’ve asked TRAI to give recommendations and on that basis, if needed, we will approach SC,” he said.

He, however, added the 5G services will be rolled out by a multitude of players beyond the current set of battered telecom service providers (TSPs). 

“TSPs are facing financial difficulties due to competition. But 5G roll out will not be only by TSPs; there will also be others investing in it depending on use cases. And if need be, the government will help. We are not going to miss the 5G bus this time,” the minister said.

India can benefit from 5G technology by becoming early adopter: Manoj Sinha

India needs to boost its own ambition and become early adopter of 5G technology, Comunications Minister Manoj Sinha said.

“India has much to gain from rising to the 5G challenge and a tremendous opportunity to accelerate its own ambitions. It can learn from the experiences of early leaders to establish a cohesive 5G roadmap that can help drive the Digital India strategy and enable the country to distinguish itself as a challenger in shaping 5G technologies,” he said.

The minister also released a global benchmark analysis of 5G policies and initiatives done by Broadband India Forum and Policy Impact Partners.

“The government of India has a unique opportunity to leverage the power of 5G to drive forward the Digital India agenda, accelerating economic growth and societal development. Policies and regulation must focus on incentivising a quantum change in investment and accelerating the deployment and take up of innovative 5G services,” Sinha added.

The Global Benchmark Analysis, carried out by Policy Impact Partners, is a comparative overview of the 5G policies and market development initiatives promoted by the five countries considered to be global leaders in 5G: China, Japan, South Korea (Republic of Korea), the United Kingdom, and the United States.