BSNL, which has a nationwide cellular phone network, today said that it was not interested in entering into an agreement with private cellular operators for roaming services due to its business interests.A K Sinha, CMD of BSNL, said: "This is purely a business case. We entered cellular telephony 5-6 years after private operators. They (private players) focussed only on big markets, we went to smaller areas. Why should we now give access to their customers?"Asked whether this would lead to denying services to subscribers, N K Mangla, director (commercial) of BSNL, said: "We want people to buy BSNL connections for wider coverage throughout the country."He, however, ruled out levying roaming premium for other subscribers, saying roaming charges are determined by Trai.BSNL today announced an investment of a whopping Rs 78,000 crore in the next three years to expand its mobile, basic and broadband operations across the country."We have planned to invest between Rs 75,000-78,000 crore over the next three years. We have a target to take our subscriber base to 12.5 crore during this period for mobile, basic and broadband services," Sinha said.The company is likely to register a net profit of about Rs 7,000 crore for 2004-05 - up from Rs 5,972 crore in 2003-04, Sinha said, adding profitability was hit due to the cut in access deficit charge (ADC).Gross sales are likely to be Rs 37,000 crore in FY05, he said.
