BSNL seeks Rs 400 crore to upgrade network

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has said that it was willing to implement all norms specified by the Interconnect Usage regime if private operators coughed up close to Rs 400 crore required to upgrade BSNL's network to make it IUC compliant.

Lambasting private telecom operators for blaming it for non implementation of the guidelines specified in the Interconnect Usage regime, BSNL officials said that it had taken note of the accusations made by the industry of it being "inefficient" - very seriously.

They said that it was also exploring possibility of taking legal actions against the private operators. "Its clearly a consipracy against us being undertaken by the operators. If we were inefficient, BSNL would not have become the second largest GSM cellular player in the market within just one year. We have taken serious note of their accusations," said BSNL officials.

Cellular Operators Association of India and Association of Basic Telecom Operators had jointly written to the telecom regulator complaining that BSNL was not complying with the IUC norms on a number of grounds.

They had sought the intervention of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on grounds that BSNL was charging revenue share against Trai guidelines. COAI had said that operators had seen a loss of Rs 200 crore owing to the alleged irregularities by BSNL.

BSNL sources said that private operators had no reason to complain since their demands of calling party pays was accepted despite it being against the interest of BSNL consumers. Trai officials said that the regulator may intervene in the dispute by convening a dialogue between BSNL and other operators.