IPO In BSNL Imp. Information

It is for Cabinet to decide on BSNL's public issue: Raja

www.bsnlnewsbyashokhindocha.blogspot.com M-9426201999

(R Yegya Narayanan,Coimbatore,23,January,2010)
Number portability to become a reality in March.
The Centre hopes to garner Rs 25,000 crore from the auction of 3G spectrum for mobile telephony, which is expected to be completed by next month, according to Mr A. Raja, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology.
He said the 4G spectrum, the launch of which is still some distance away, would not cannibalise 3G spectrum and both technologies could co-exist.
Telephone tariff to come down:The Union Minister of Communication and IT A. Raja has said the tariff for telephone call within a State will come down to 10 paisa a minute and within the Country to 20 paisa soon.
Launching the 3G services of BSNL in Coimbatore and Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu today, he pointed out that while the prices of all other things are going up, it is only the cell phone tariff which is coming down. He said telephone connections in the Country crossed 500 million by December last year which was the target for the year 2012. Last month itself 18 million cell phone connections were given in the Country.
The Minister said the number portability would become a reality by March. Asked when the BSNL would go public, he said “it is for the Cabinet to decide.”
Speaking to presspersons in Coimbatore on Saturday, he said the roll out of 3G spectrum across the country is expectedto be completed ‘within this year'. He said the auction for 3G spectrum is expected to be completed by next month after which competition would intensify with the entry of private telecom players into this field in which the PSU telecom players BSNL and MTNL had got a head start.
Asked about the expected revenue from the bidding war among private telecom players seeking 3G spectrum allocation, he said: “We do expect that at least Rs 25,000 crore must come” including Wi-max and 3G. While there will be one-time payment at the time of auction itself, there will also be revenue from it subsequently.
When asked about market speculation that some prospective bidders may stay away from 3G because of the belief that the launch of next generation technology 4G spectrum is not too far away, Mr Raja said even in the International Telecom Union, definitive conclusions about 4G technology were yet to be reached after which it has to undergo trials. “We are foreseeing a technical revolution in 4G' and it might take another year for 4G to be introduced, he added.
Commercial viability
The Union Minister did not agree with the view that the possible launch of 4G may hold back some of the telecom players from entering the bidding process for 3G spectrum allocation and said there was ‘commercial viability for 3G'. Even if 4G comes, it would not affect 3G.
On the price war among telecom operators, he said till he assumed leadership of the Communications Ministry, the stand was that market forces would decide the tariff. But there was no healthy competition earlier and the tariff remained stiff. But healthy competition inthe sector, the tariff has started a downward journey and now operators were asking for fixing minimum tariff.
Asked about the reasons for the declining market share of BSNL in the mobile telephone sector, Mr Raja said landline was a huge burden for the company and it has to take care of 2.5 lakh employees. It also took nearly 18 months to close a tender as it had to follow Government laid procedures. He had consulted the Prime Minister on simplifying procurement norms and this was one of the reasons for the PSU behemoth losing ground in mobile telephony to private operators.