The Hindu : Oct. 1 deadline for VSNL to patch up with BSNL, MTNL

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 07, 2002

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Oct. 1 deadline for VSNL to patch up with BSNL, MTNL

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 6. The Government has given the Tatas-controlled Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL) time till October 1 to strike a mutually acceptable routing agreement with the state-run domestic telecom giants, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).

Although it has been agreed that MTNL and BSNL will route international calls only through VSNL for two years, there is unease over the terms. MTNL and BSNL are insisting that its international calls be routed through VSNL on the same terms offered by new international long distance (ILD) companies, Bharti and Data Access. VSNL has dithered for five months on this issue but an end appears to be in sight after the Tata supremo, Ratan Tata, indicated his company's willingness for a rapproachment.

Speaking at a function on Thursday night, the Communications and IT Minister, Pramod Mahajan, once again expressed his unhappiness over the high levels of antagonism prevailing in the telecom sector.

The VSNL-MTNL/BSNL stand-off was but one among many instances. The existing competitive environment had created natural anomalies within the system. Their redressal required agencies that were faster in resolving problems than the normal judicial channels, felt the Minister.

The Minister also felt that a cent per cent market economy was a misnomer. It was vital to locate the social obligation parameters in the telecom sector. The Government felt that participation by the private sector was poor in regions that offered poor remuneration.

He urged private companies to fulfil their contractual obligations (such as providing phones in villages) that had been agreed upon at the time of signing licences.

He also advised the private companies to change their perception about state-run companies.

For instance on several occasions, when private companies indulged in aggressive marketing, it was viewed as a "customer oriented'' view while when the Government companies did the same, they interpreted it as "predatory'' tactics, observed the Minister.

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