Union minister for communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad has directed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for upgrading the mobile network in Uttar Pradesh Circle.

He asked officials to upgrade the existing mobile network in all the major cities with IP based technology.

KOLKATA: Homegrown telecom gear and optic fibre cable makers Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL) and Sterlite Technologies have emerged the lowest (L1) bidders for supplying nearly Rs 13,000 crore of equipment to Bharat Sanchar Nigam ( BSNL), which is building a mega communications network for the armed forces.

HFCL has put in price bids, aggregating Rs 4,224 crore for supplying optical transmission devices (Rs 1,448 crore) and geographical information-based network management systems (Rs 2,776 crore), while Sterlite Technologies has put in price bids aggregating Rs 8,400 crore for supplying core IP gear to BSNL, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told ET.

The Narendra Modi government today blamed the previous UPA regime for the “decline” in financial condition of BSNL and MTNL, saying the two state-run telecom companies were together suffering losses to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore in 2014 when the BJP-led dispensation took over.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in Lok Sabha that in 2004, BSNL was incurring profits of around Rs 10,000 crore and MTNL Rs 900 crore.

State-run BSNL today said various energy conservation measures adopted by it have resulted in a cumulative saving of Rs. 613 crore from April 2008 to March 2016.

The company said it has been honoured with eight national-level energy conservation awards, given by the Power Ministry, and 26 state-level awards given by various state governments in recognition of its energy conservation and demand side management initiatives.

The state-run BSNL will launch wi-fi facility at Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine tomorrow, its 1,000th hotspot in the country.

Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will launch the facility from Delhi.

BSNL had planned to set up 2,500 wi-fi hotspots in 250 locations at a cost of Rs 500 crore in the current financial year.

The BSNL board has formally approved signing of an intra-circle roaming (ICR) pact with Reliance Jio Infocomm across all 22 circles.

A top BSNL official said the two companies will start working on the agreed ICR arrangements and are expected to close the deal in a month’s time.

State-run telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is likely to finalise a deal with leading telecom company Bharti Airtel by June this year for spectrum sharing in four telecom circles, BSNL CMD Anupam Shrivastava said on Thursday.

Srivastava said BSNL is working on sharing spectrum with Bharti Airtel in Rajasthan, UP (West), Bihar and Assam telecom circles for which it has constitued a committee to look into the feasibility aspect to ascertain if it can offer similar services to other telcos as well.

State-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has an outstanding debt of Rs 7,667 crore, as on January 31. On the other hand, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) has an outstanding debt of Rs 13,530 crore, as of end-February, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

“BSNL’s debt is mainly due to its capital expenditure requirement. This requirement started in June 2010 after the payment of BWA and 3G spectrum charges to the tune of Rs 18,500 crore to the government,” Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

State-run BSNL is launching today its 4G services in Chandigarh with broadband speed of up to 100 megabit per second (Mbps) on mobile phones.

The company has published an advertisement in local newspapers about the launch of its 4G services.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will provide dedicated network to policemen during the upcoming Simhastha to be held in Ujjain in April 2016.

“We will provide them dedicated CDMA network which will be untraceable and free from any disturbance or congestion,” said G C Pandey, chief general manager, BSNL (Madhya Pradesh).

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