State-run BSNL will launch free roaming, starting today, which will allow all its mobile customers across the country to receive incoming calls at no cost.

“Now BSNL mobile customers will not need to carry multiple SIMs and handsets during roaming. They are free to talk as long as they want without worrying of any charges during incoming calls.

State-run telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will sign its first agreement outside India to buy bandwidth from Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company to provide internet services in the northeast. It is also exploring South Africa for expansion, and may pick up equity stakes in one of the country’s telecom service providers.

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company has agreed to sell its unused bandwidth to BSNL for $1.2 million a year. Initially, BSNL will buy 10 Gbps (Gigabits per second) capacity, which will be increased to 40 Gbps over time.

Mobile subscribers of state-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be able to avail free roaming services across India from June 15, minister for communications and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said while talking about the one-year achievements of his ministry. BSNL had a mobile subscriber base of 77.2 million at the end of March.

At present, BSNL earns about Rs 150 crore from roaming rates, BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava said. He said, though the roaming revenues will come down, the company expects new subscriber additions going forward because of the free roaming facility. The company operates across India except Delhi and Mumbai where its sister concern Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) operates.

Separatists trying to use telecom towers in Jammu and Kashmir indicates their desperation, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today, while asking the state government to ensure the safety of communications infrastructure.

A spate of attacks against telecom employees and those who have rented out space for installation of mobile towers in their fields has thrown the communication system in north Kashmir's Baramulla into disarray.

State-run telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is in discussions with MTS, the Indian unit of Russian telecom company Sistema, to offer fourth generation, or 4G, telecom services across the country, through joint branding.

"We are in the final stages of discussions with MTS and are awaiting the government's policy on spectrum sharing and trading, expected to be announced soon," a senior BSNL official told Business Standard.

NEW DELHI: A year in office, the Modi government is keen to revive state-owned enterprises BSNL and MTNL, even as they face stiff competition from private players.

BSNL that operates across the country including in remote areas, had posted a profit of Rs 10, 000 crore when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government left office in 2004, but "when we returned to government in 2014, it was suffering from a loss of Rs 7020 crore," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told TOI.

Unidentified gunmen on Monday fired on the franchise office of BSNL in North Kashmir’s Sopore town, killing one and leaving two injured.

Soon after the attack, police launched manhunt to track down the militants responsible for the attack.

Members in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday came down heavily on BSNL for “poor” services across the country as the government defended the telecom operator saying it has been suffering since the days of UPA government.

Discussing the BSNL services in various parts of the country, BJP member Sanjay Dhotre wondered whether some of the BSNL employees were working for private operators as they were “not interested” improving its own services, thus helping private companies to expand their networks.

State-run telecom operator BSNL on Saturday slashed roaming tariff by up to 40 per cent for its prepaid and postpaid mobile connection with effect from May 1.

The decision had been taken in the wake of telecom tariff order issued by TRAI, the company said in a statement.

The number of people working in central public sector enterprises declined further in 2013-14, while state-run oil explorer ONGC was the most profitable PSU in the fiscal, a government survey said.

As on March 31, 2014, 290 CPSEs employed over 13.51 lakh people (excluding contract workers), compared to 14.02 lakh in 2012-13.

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