Question : Performance of BSNL and MTNL

(a) the market share of public sector telecommunication enterprises i.e. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) in comparison to private sector telecom companies;

(b) the reasons for the decline, if any, in the number of subscribers of the said public sector telecom companies;

(c) whether the Government proposes to improve the market share and profitability of these public sector enterprises;

(d) if so, the details thereof along with the measures taken by the Government in this regard;

(e) whether the Government proposes to merge both public enterprises as a part of their revival and reorganization plan and if so, the details and the present status thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(f) whether the said telecom companies have surrendered their CDMA spectrum and received refunded amount and if so, the details thereof?

THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) The market share of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) in terms of number of wireline and wireless subscribers for last three years and current year is as follows:

BSNL:
<pre>
Status as on Total Telephone Connections in the country (in Million) Telephone Connections Provided by BSNL
(in Million) Telephone Market Share of BSNL (%)
Wired Line Wireless Grand Total Wired Line Wire-less Grand Total Wired Line Wireless including WLL Grand Total

31.03.14 28.49 904.55 933.04 18.49 94.65 113.14 64.90 10.46 12.13
31.03.15 26.56 969.54 996.1 16.41 76.83 93.24 61.80 7.92 9.36
31.03.16 25.18 1034.20 1059.38 14.76 86.82 101.58 58.63 8.40 9.43
31.03.17 24.38 1170.68 1195.06 13.69 101.40 115.09 56.15 8.66 9.63
31.10.17 23.51 1178.67 1202.18 12.67 106.80 119.47 53.91 9.06 9.94
</pre>



MTNL:
<pre>
Status as on Total Telephone Connections in Delhi and Mumbai licensed area
(in Million) Telephone Connections Provided by MTNL
(in Million) Telephone Market Share* of MTNL (%)
Wired Line Wireless Grand Total Wired Line Wire-less Grand Total Wired Line Wireless including WLL Grand Total

31.03.14 6.16 73.42 79.58 3.53 3.37 6.9 57.33 4.59 8.67
31.03.15 6.13 76.81 82.94 3.55 3.51 7.06 57.24 4.57 8.51
31.03.16 6.20 79.11 85.31 3.50 3.56 7.06 56.44 4.50 8.29
31.03.17 6.26 90.07 96.33 3.46 3.63 7.09 55.27 4.03 7.37
31.10.17 6.26 92.53 98.79 3.39 3.59 6.98 54.18 3.88 7.05
</pre>
* MTNL operates in Delhi and Mumbai area, market share is calculated for Delhi and Mumbai area only.

(b) The reasons for stagnation and/or falling market share for wireline and wireless services are as under:
Wireline: -
• There is a general decline in demand for the fixed line telephones due to subscriber’s tendency to shift to mobile services because of its sheer convenience with regards to affordability and availability.
• Closure due to non-payment of telephones bills/economic reasons.
• Prolonged breakdown of services due to cable breakdown inflected due to road widening, cable thefts, cable faults etc.
Wireless:-
• Stiff competition in Mobile sector by other private telecom operators who have aggressive tariff plans.
• BSNL and MTNL could not procure mobile equipment for few years, but in the last three years BSNL and MTNL maintained/slightly improved their market share in wireless segment due to their aggressive tariffs plans in competitive market. BSNL is increasing its 2G / 3G coverage by addition of BTSs / Nodes.

(c) & (d) To improve the market share and profitability, BSNL and MTNL are taking various steps as detailed at Annexure-I. The details of Government support to BSNL and MTNL are at Annexure-II.

(e) At present, there is no proposal for merger of BSNL and MTNL.

(f) Amount of Rs.458.04 crore to MTNL and Rs.169.16 crore to BSNL on account of surrender of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) spectrum has been refunded by the Government.