Lok Sabha Question No. 222 (STARRED), answered on 2019-12-04
Subject: Services Provided by BSNL and MTNL
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Rakesh Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 222 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH   DECEMBER, 2019

## SERVICES PROVIDED BY BSNL AND MTNL

## †*222. SHRI RAKESH SINGH:

| Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:   | Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:                    |
|------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (b)                                                        | if so, the details thereof;                                                 |
| (c)                                                        | whether the said companies would be able to provide 4G and 5G services; and |
| (d)                                                        | if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?                |
|                                                            | ANSWER                                                                      |
| (a) to (d)                                                 | Astatement is laid on the Table of the House.                               |

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *222  FOR 4 TH  DECEMBER, 2019  ON 'SERVICES PROVIDED BY BSNL AND MTNL'.

(a) to (d) Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)  is operating  in  metros of  Delhi  and Mumbai and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is operating in rest of India. The Cabinet in its meeting  held  on  23.10.2019  approved  the  revival  plan  for  BSNL  and  MTNL  which  inter-alia, includes in-principle approval for merger of BSNL and MTNL.

The  merger  will  benefit  BSNL/MTNL  through  pan-India  footprint,  synergy  in  operations, reduction of fixed costs and overheads, sharing of technical  infrastructure and enhanced Enterprise Business  etc.    This  will  resultantly  help  BSNL/MTNL  to  provide  better  quality  services  to  their customers on a pan-India basis.

Further, the Cabinet approval also includes administrative allotment of spectrum to BSNL and MTNL for providing 4G services.  BSNL is currently providing 4G services on  a  limited  basis  in certain  areas  using  its  existing  spectrum.    With  roll  out  of  4G  services  on  a  pan-India  basis, BSNL/MTNL will be able to provide  high  speed  mobile  internet  services  in  a  data-centric  market which will further improve the customer experience.

Additionally,  Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  monitors  the  performance  of telecom service providers including BSNL and MTNL against the benchmark for various Quality of Service  (QoS)  parameters  through  quarterly  Performance  Monitoring  Reports  (PMRs).    For  the services  currently  provided  by  BSNL/MTNL,  both  are  meeting  all  he  benchmarks  for  all  the parameters in their Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) except for the parameter for call drops in West Bengal service area by BSNL.

As regards 5G services by BSNL/MTNL, the standards for IMT 2020 (International Mobile Telecommunications  2020),  also  known  as  5G  technologies  in  industry,  are  being  finalised.    The cabinet has also approved that allotment of spectrum for 5G services will also be made to BSNL and MTNL on the same principle followed for allotment of spectrum for 4G services.

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