After being mired in controversy over its recent Rs 30,0000-crore tender for franchisees seeking to deploy the Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) platform, state-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has been asked by the WiMAX Forum to avoid the franchisee model.
WiMAX Forum India's Chairman CS Rao said: "While adopting the franchisee model, we feel that BSNL is losing out on the opportunity of racing ahead of the private players in this space."
Rao added that, if BSNL deploys the network itself, it would result in revenues amounting to about $1.2 billion annually. While, in the franchisee model, it would only get about $500 million a year since it is on a revenue-sharing basis, where it would get roughly 30 per cent.
