Siddharth Zarabi: Long distance runner

BACKSTAGE

For many observers of the telecom scene, R S P Sinha, the chairman and managing director of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, is a low-key, yet politically well-connected manager, who does not believe in open conflict or confrontation to achieve his objectives. Even after facing tremendous opposition in the run-up to his appointment as the chairman of this government-owned Navratna from the closely-knit Indian Telecom Service, Sinha kept his cool. Not many know that Sinha is an engineer, a masters in financial management, a LLB, a cost and works accountant and CAIIB.

Yet the recent spat with big brother Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd seemed out of character.

Quite apart from the public wrangling now, the fact is that MTNL has harboured long-distance ambitions for some time now. The genesis of the recent developments is as convoluted and torturous as the story of the reform of India's telecom sector. In a nutshell, it can be said that MTNL was, for a long time, the showpiece PSU that the Department of Telecom ran at its sweet will.

That meant almost being run into the ground with it being denied the right to launch mobile services for almost three crucial years "" even after it became clear by 1998-99 that going mobile was key to its long term survival. It also meant that a minister got a former DUSU president appointed to the Board of this NYSE-listed company, without a whimper of protest. It also means that MTNL cannot take tough decisions "" like a VRS for its bloated staff "" despite the obvious pressures on its bottomline.

Amidst all this, even Sinha's worst detractors maintain that he has stemmed the rot and actually managed to turn around the company to some extent while keeping the ministry mandarins satisfied. But BSNL believes that more than just a long distance licence is at stake and has reacted with outrage tinged with a sense of betrayal. Yet, it is not something personal between Sinha or his counterpart A K Sinha at BSNL.

The fact is that the two companies are in an intensely competitive market that moves at speeds that PSUs are simply not accustomed to. Being sister PSUs is not enough and it may actually be sensible to allow both of them to go their own way. That would, perhaps, be asking for too much as the phone links that bind them on the ground, also link them in fate.