"The strike started at 0600 hours. Workers of all the associations, unions are unitedly on strike. The strike is a complete success," V A N Namboodiri, joint convener of BSNL and MTNL employees forum, said.
BSNL has 3.5 crore fixed lines and 2.4 crore mobile subscribers and is the largest telecom operator with operations in regions except Mumbai and Delhi.
The employees went ahead with their decision to go on strike following failure of its talks with the company management, Telecom Minister A Raja and Department of Telecom.
The union wanted a written assurance from DoT on its demand that the contract for laying 45.5 million GSM lines should be awarded to selected vendors.
But the DoT letter did not appear to have met the expectations of the union as it apparently did not mention two crucial issues - that BSNL should go for 3G network and immediate placement of order for 45.5 million lines.
The employees are likely to hold a meeting with Raja today along with the top brass of BSNL and DoT secretary.
Problems for the PSU are set to be compounded with this strike even as it struggles to increase its GSM capacity through tenders, which have been mired in controversies and delays. (PTI)