THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI DAYANIDHI MARAN)
(a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT
OF PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 316 FOR 13TH
DECEMBER, 2006 REGARDING MOBILE SERVICES OF BSNL/MTNL.
(a) & (b)Yes, Sir. The mobile services of MTNL and BSNL are facing stiff competition
from the private service providers. Although, MTNL and BSNL commenced their
mobile services in 2001 and 2002 respectively which is much later than private
operators, who started their services in 1995. They have shown overall growth and
in the process given a tough fight to the private operators.
Market share of BSNL and MTNL in mobile service as on 30.9.2006.
BSNL
No. of mobile phone of Percentage share of BSNL
BSNL Private operator
23695841 86184669 21.57%
MTNL
No. of mobile phone of Percentage share of MTNL
MTNL Private operator
2370610 17203882 12.11%
MTNL and BSNL have taken number of measures to improve mobile services in their
respective service area as per details below:
A.MTNL:
(i)GSM Mobile Network is continuously being expanded. MTNL has added nearly 10
lacs mobile connections in Delhi/Mumbai in 2005-06 and 3.85 lacs mobile connections
up to October, 2006 in Delhi/Mumbai.
(ii)Add latest technology i.e. 3G in the Mobile sector.
(iii)Commissioning of the convergent billing solution which is meant to enhance customer
satisfaction in respect of bills of various services, billing dispute resolution and customer
care.
(iv)Providing Value Added Services for Mobile subscribers including Multimedia
Messaging Service (MMS), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) inline with the
emerging trends.
(v)Taking care of its customers by opening Sanchar Haat, Customer Service Centres and
introducing various methods for bill payment etc.
(vi)Reviewing its tariff for various products and various services so far as to make them
customer friendly, competitive and to suit all segments of the society.
(vii)Optimizing its mobile network to reduce congestion and improve coverage and
capacity.
(viii)Providing in-building solutions like boosters, additional BTS to improve coverage/
capacity of mobile network.
B. BSNL:
(i)It has made a very ambitious plan for expansion of its mobile network. BSNL has
already initiated the procurement process to augment its country-wide network capacity
by 63.5 million lines progressively in the coming three financial years.
(ii)Aggressively marketing its services and products through wide network of franchises,
retailers, STD PCOs etc. A comprehensive Sales and Distribution policy has been made to
create a proactive selling network.
(iii)Engaging top ranking Advertising agencies for promoting its brands in the market.
(c)BSNL SIM cards for post-paid and pre-paid mobile services are available in almost all parts
of the country. Efforts are being made to clear the waiting list in the remaining parts, wherever
they exist, by increasing the capacity of mobile network (Annexure-I). There is no waiting list
for pre-paid and post-paid mobile services in Aurangabad district in Maharastra.
(d)The number of BSNL towers likely to be set up in the coming year (2007-08) State-wise is
given in Annexure-II. The location of these towers, being dependent on RF survey and
other planning parameters, is planned to be finalized at the time of actual deployment.
STATUS OF WAITING LIST CIRCLE-WISE AS ON 31ST OCTOBER, 2006
Sl.No. Circle Pre-paid Post-paid Total
1 Andaman & Nicobar 0 0 0
2 Assam 0 0 0
3 Bihar 0 0 0
4 Jharkhand 0 0 0
5 North East-I 5521 2553 8074
6 North East-II 14341 4672 19013
7 Orissa 0 0 0
8 West Bengal 0 0 0
9 Calcutta Telephones 0 0 0
10 Andhra Pradesh 0 0 0
11 Karnataka 0 0 0
12 Kerala 0 0 0
13 Tamil Nadu 0 0 0
14 Chennai Telephones 0 0 0
15 Haryana 0 0 0
16 Himachal Pradesh 0 0 0
17 Jammu & Kashmir 0 0 0
18 Punjab 0 0 0
19 Rajasthan 0 0 0
20 Utter Pradesh (E) 0 0 0
21 Uttar Pradesh (W) 0 0 0
22 Uttaranchal 0 0 0
23 Maharashtra 54370 0 54370
24 Gujarat 0 0 0
25 Madhya Pradesh 0 0 0
26 Chhattisgarh 37089 0 37089 Total 1,11,321 7225 1,18,546
ANNEXURE-II
NUMBER OF TOWERS OF BSNL PROPOSED TO BE INSTALLED DURING
FINANCIAL YEAR (2007-08).
Sl. No. Name of Circle No. of Towers proposed to be installed during 2007-08
East Zone
1 Andaman & Nicobar 50
2 Assam 700
3 Bihar 1,100
4 Jharkhand 700
5 North East-I 200
6 North East-II 200
7 Orissa 850
8 Kolkata 800
9 West Bengal 900 Total 5,500
South Zone
1 Andhra Pradesh 1,500
2 Karnataka 1,500
3 Kerala 1,600
4 Tamil Nadu 1,700
5 Chennai 700 Total 7,000
North Zone
1 Haryana 400
2 Himachal Pradesh 230
3 Jammu & Kashmir 300
4 Punjab 520
5 Rajasthan 1,250
6 Utter Pradesh (E) 1.300
7 Uttar Pradesh (W) 700
8 Uttaranchal 300 Total 5,000
West Zone
1 Maharashtra 2,500
2 Gujarat 1,500
3 Madhya Pradesh 1,300
4 Chhattisgarh 700 Total 6,000 Grand Total 23,500
