Lok Sabha Question No. 1149 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-02
Subject: Employees of MTNL
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: A.T. (NANA) PATIL

## MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1149 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 nd  MARCH,  2016

## EMPLOYEES OF MTNL

1149. SHRI A.T. NANA PATIL:

Will  the  Minister  of  COMMUNICATIONS  AND  INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to announce Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for the employees of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL);
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  eligibility  criteria  fixed  for  the  purpose; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to improve the financial situation of the BSNL and MTNL that have posted massive losses during the last several years?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) & (b) At  present,  there  is  no  proposal  under  consideration  of  Department  of Telecommunications (DoT) for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for employees of  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL)  and  Mahanagar  Telephone  Nigam  Limited (MTNL).
- (c)        BSNL  and  MTNL  are  taking  several  steps  to  enhance  revenues  through investments  to  strengthen  their  network  and  focus  on  customer  care  and  service delivery to improve revenue generation. Some of these are as follows:

## BSNL

-  BSNL has planned to install 10510 of 3G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) & 14232  of  2G  BTSs  under  Phase-VII  GSM  (  Global  System  for  Mobile communication) expansion for 15 Million lines.  It has also planned to install additional 9600 of 3G BTSs and replacing of 5300 old BTSs of GSM Phase I, II & III  in North & South Zone. An approximate capacity of 5 million shall be added in the GSM network of North Zone & South Zone. BSNL has already commissioned over 16.42 million lines. Out of the planned BTSs, 9829 (3G) BTSs & 12,491 (2G) BTSs are radiating (Total 22,320). This will improve 2G & 3G network coverage & data capability of 3G network.
-  BSNL has planned to implement ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) as one of  the  important  IT  initiative  in  two  phases  i.e.  Phase-I  Proof  of  Concept (POC) and Phase-2 Rollout. The ERP has been implemented in all the 49 units including eight Proof of Concept (POC) Circles .
-  During this Five Year Plan (2012-17), BSNL has planned to make the entire wire line customer base network IP enabled. Next Generation Network (NGN) equipment  based  on  the  latest  architecture  are  planned  to  be  deployed gradually to replace the entire Circuit Switched equipments/ Digital Telephone Exchanges.

-  BSNL  has  set  wireline  call  centres  for  the  customers  of  landline  and broadband at Dehradun, Ajmer and Bangalore and traffic from all  circles has been  migrated  to  these  call  centres.  These  call  centres  are  accessible through toll free number 1500 (from BSNL number) and 18003451500 (from other operator numbers).
-  BSNL has launched various customer centric initiatives like Night free calling, Free Roaming, increased minimum speed of broadband to 2 Mbps etc.

## MTNL

-  MTNL  has  planned  to  upgrade  the  existing  High  Speed  Downlink  Packet Access  (HSDPA)  3G  network  supporting  Downlink  speed  of  3.6  Mbps  & Uplink  speed  of  384  Kbps  to  HSPA+  (High  Speed  Packet  Access  +)  with Downlink speed of 21.1 Mbps & Uplink speed of 5.76 Mbps per sector.
-  MTNL is taking steps for up-gradation / augmentation / expansion of existing 2G/3G network.
-  MTNL  is  planning  to  provide  the  backhaul  media  connectivity  of  existing mobile tower sites in Delhi & Mumbai on OFC network in place of Microwave network.
-  MTNL is also exploring synergy with BSNL for its mobile services amongst other initiatives.
-  MTNL has set up wireline call centers for the customers of landline, mobile & broadband at Delhi and Mumbai. These call centers are accessible through Toll  Free  numbers  1500/1503/1504  (from  MTNL  numbers).  These  call centres handle all types of inbound queries, directory enquiries, complaints, requests,  outbound  calling  and  response  through  SMS  (Short  Message service)/e-mail/fax/web portal.

In addition, Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has also taken up several projects  to  improve  the  telecom  network  in  rural  and  remote  areas  through  Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).  Some of these projects are as follows:

-  To  provide  better  mobile  services  in  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected areas, USOF has awarded to BSNL to install 2199 (BTSs).
-  USOF  is  implementing  a  comprehensive  telecom  developing  plan  for  the North East Region (NER) at the estimated cost of Rs.5336.18 crores.  This NER scheme has following components:
- (i)  Provision of mobile services in uncovered villages.
- (ii)  Provision of seamless mobile coverage along the National Highways.
- (iii)  Augmentation of Transmission media.
-  USOF is augmenting the telecom network in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands.
-  National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is being implemented to connect 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats with broadband.

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