BSNL drops plan to bid for Tunisia licence

BSNL has dropped its plans to bid for telecom licence in Tunisia as the PSU finds the returns not enough to enter that market through bidding of licence.

"We did not bid for Tunisia... We did not find returns on our investment," a senior BSNL official told PTI.

Earlier the PSU's CMD Kuldeep Goyal had said BSNL was planning to bid for telecom licence in Tunisia and get a footprint in the African market, which has immense potential.

But not bidding for Tunisia does not mean BSNL has lost sight of the potential of the African region, which it says has growing mobile usage.

BSNL official said the minimum bid price was understood to be $10 million but the Tunisian market is well-penetrated with 80 per cent of the population owing mobile phones leaving not much scope for more penetration.

BSNL has shortlisted eight consultants, including Ernst & Young, McKinsey, KPMG and PriceWaterHouseCoopers, for its plans of mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships and overseas forays.

The state-run firm, which so far concentrated only on the Indian market (except Delhi and Mumbai), has decided to expand overseas. Sources said BSNL has a cash surplus of over $10 billion and would use part of these resources for its overseas foray.