BSNL, which has already pumped in over Rs. 2.75 crore this fiscal on diesel to run its power back-up equipment for telephones exchanges and cellular tower installations, is likely to feel the pinch of power cuts more acutely in the days ahead.
For BSNL Chennai Telephones, the massive investments over the last couple of years in the communication infrastructure for its CellOne mobile services on 2G and 3G technology platforms, could actually bite back at its finances as it has to battle mounting power bills(Rs. 47 crore in 2008-09, Rs. 54 crore in 2009-10 and Rs. 60 crore in 2010-11), escalating diesel costs to run the power back-up machines and declining average revenue per user – a trend that cuts across telecom operators. What is now hogging the attention of the finance division of BSNL is the galloping spend on procuring diesel to run generator sets that power the network of about 2,000 Base Transceiver Stations and 300 telephone exchanges in Chennai Telephones jurisdiction.
“In a two-hour power cut regime, diesel expenses will virtually double,” a top BSNL official said.
In other words, Chennai Telephones is likely to close the current fiscal with a diesel bill upwards of Rs. 3.50 crore.
Already, there are reports of mobile communication outages and disruption of consumer transactions in computerised exchanges in some suburban areas due to insufficient power back-up during shut-downs. Consumer activist T. Sadagopan says that mobile networks across service providers suffer from insufficient power back-up, especially in areas beyond Tiruninravur and Poonamallee, where the duration of power cut is much longer.
BSNL Chennai Telephones Chief General Manager A. Subramanian said while there have been some problems in providing power continuity to BTS units, the situation was under close monitoring and steps were being taken to sustain communication services during power cuts. At the same time, the rising costs in maintaining power back-up equipment was savaging BSNL's finances to the point where its operating ratio was adversely affected, he said.
BSNL is hoping for favourable Government action on a petition it recently submitted seeking exemption for its telephone exchanges from power cuts.
BSNL's search for alternative energy options such as photo voltaic units, wind mills or solar geysers too have made little headway mainly because of the prohibitive capital costs.
