BSNL, Bharti Airtel mull sharing of spectrum

BSNL wants to use its underused network and forge agreements with private telecom players to improve earnings

State-run telecom player BSNL is in discussions with Bharti Airtel for sharing in four circles -- Rajasthan, UP (West), Bihar and Assam.

"Some preliminary discussions are going on. BSNL is open to spectrum sharing with all operators but currently the discussions are taking place with Airtel," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava said.

The deal may be finalised by June. BSNL has formed a committee to look into the feasibility aspect.

To improve earnings and cut losses, BSNL has drawn up a strategy to use its underused network and forge agreements with private telecom players. This will also mean minimal capital expenditure.

BSNL is also in discussions with Reliance Jio Infocomm, wherein the Mukesh Ambani company will use BSNL's network and infrastructure for voice services through intra-circle roaming arrangements. "We have done some testing with Reliance Jio. They will use our 2G and 3G networks to offer services to their customers and we are looking to offer 4G services to BSNL customers using their network," Shrivastava said.

Apart from this, it is exploring partnerships with Aircel, Airtel and Telenor for similar intra-circle roaming agreements. To share its network for intra-circle roaming, BSNL has fixed charges at 25 paise a minute for voice, 25 paise a megabyte for data and 5 paise per SMS for any telecom operator. Intra-circle roaming could potentially create a revenue stream of Rs 3,000 crore in three years, Shrivastava added.

Spectrum sharing will help operators in fixing the gaps in spectrum holdings and improve quality of services in the wake of call drops. The government had last year approved the spectrum sharing norms allowing companies to share airwaves in the same band.

Spectrum sharing would be allowed only where both the licensees are having spectrum in the same band and leasing of spectrum will not be permitted, it said. Also, sharing may be permitted where both entities possess spectrum for which market price has been paid.

Spectrum usage charge (SUC) will be levied on the entire spectrum holding in the particular band and all access spectrum including traded spectrum will be sharable.