Lok Sabha Question No. 1044 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-02
Subject: Performance of BSNL
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: NEELAM SONKER

## MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1044 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 nd  MARCH,  2016

## PERFORMANCE OF BSNL

†1044. SHRIMATI NEELAM SONKER:

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

- (a) whether the Government has reviewed the performance of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited in the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  of  the  earned  profit  and  the  works  done  for  ensuring  quality services pertaining to these companies;
- (c) whether there has been a huge decline in the number of its customers due to poor quality; and
- (d) if so, the measures taken by the Government to streamline it?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (d) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited  (MTNL)  are  Board  driven  public  sector  undertakings.  They  take  their  own commercial  and  technical  decisions  based  on  techno-economical  considerations. Department of Telecommunications (DoT) reviews the performance of BSNL and MTNL based  on  the  targets  of  Memorandum  of  Understanding  (MoU)  signed  between  the PSUs and the DoT as per the guidelines issued by Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).

Details of profits and losses of BSNL and MTNL during the last three years  are as follows:

(in Rupees Crore)

| Year    | BSNL    | MTNL    |
|---------|---------|---------|
| 2012-13 | (-)7884 | (-)5321 |
| 2013-14 | (-)7020 | 7825    |
| 2014-15 | (-)8234 | (-)2893 |

BSNL and MTNL have achieved net positive addition of total customers including wireline and wireless during the current year.

BSNL and MTNL have taken several steps to improve their network and quality of service.  Some of the steps are as follows:

Contd……..2/-

## BSNL:

-  BSNL has planned to install 10510 3G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) & 14232 2G  BTSs  under  Phase-VII  GSM  (Global  System  for  Mobile  communication) expansion for 15 Million lines.  It has also planned to install additional 9600 3G BTSs and 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).

## 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.

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