Government assures BSNL Unions on the IPO Issue Thiru A Raja asks Talks to Continue


 

16:34 IST

 

The Government today asked the state owned telecom operator BSNL and its employees’ Unions to carry forward healthy discussions on the BSNL IPO (Initial Public Offering) issue. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Thiru A. Raja met representative of the Unions and BSNL officials to discuss the matter. He said, the IPO will lead to better social and economic security of employees. The Minister said that the company and the unions should get engaged in rounds of talks in the near future.

Mr. Raja pointed out that the employees will get Employees Stock Option (ESOP) at liberal and concessional rate and will get ownership right in the company. Enumerating the benefits to the employees, he said, if an employee gets 500 shares @ Rs. 10/- his net gain would be about Rs. 1.5 lakh.

Thiru Raja allayed apprehensions of the trade unions regarding the IPO issue and said this would benefit the public sector telecom giant. He underlined that it will reveal real value of the BSNL. It will also help in getting ‘Navratna Status’ for BSNL, which will result in more autonomy. It will increase BSNL rating in national and international markets, which will result in better business negotiations in the competitive environment. The Minister said that the listing of BSNL will require placing of all the accounts of the company in public domain, which will result in transparency and help in better resource management.

Press information bureau dated
07-08-2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3G and BWA Spectrums allocated to BSNL & MTNL: next Generation mobile services start rolling


 

Government has approved release of one block of 3G Spectrum each to BSNL and MTNL, the two Public Sector telephone service providers. The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Thiru A. Raja has approved the release of one block to MTNL in Delhi and Mumbai/Metro service areas. He has also approved the release of another block to BSNL for other service areas. The approval follows soon after the Minister’s announcement last week to allow the two Government owned telephone companies a first-mover advantage over private operators. The spectrum blocks released for the two companies have the size of 2x5 MHz in 2.1 GHz Band.

Thiru Raja has also approved release of a block of 20 MHz BWA Spectrum each to both the Public Sector Undertakings. The spectrum block released for the two companies will be in the 2.5 GHz band at 2645.0 MHz.

Besides this special consideration for BSNL and MTNL, 3G / BWA Spectrum would be allocated through an auction process to be conducted by a specialized agency. For the Spectrum blocks released to them, BSNL and MTNL will pay a price equal to the highest bid in the respective service areas.
Thiru Raja has approved the proposal to waive Annual Licence Fees in terms of AGR on BSNL’s rural wire-lines.
Thiru Raja has also approved payment upto Rs.2000 crore per annum from USO Fund to compensate loss from operations from rural connections resulted by removal of ADC by TRAI.