Question : Service Offered by BSNL and MTNL

(a) the mobile service quality and infrastructure of BSNL and MTNL in comparison to their private Telecom Service Providers (TSPs);

(b) whether BSNL and MTNL have failed to attract customers as compared to their private TSPs particularly in the urban areas and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard;

(c) whether the Government proposes to restructure/revamp/merge the aforementioned Telecom PSUs to make them competitive and profitable and if so, the details thereof and the action taken/being taken by the Government in this regard along with the time by which the said proposal is likely to be implemented; and

(d) whether three lakh employees of BSNL and MTNL reportedly lack required skills and if so, the details and the financial implications thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

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

(a) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) monitors the performance of service providers, including Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) against the benchmarks for various quality of service parameters laid down by TRAI in the Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations issued from time to time through Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs) submitted by service providers.
As per TRAI, Performance Monitoring Report(PMR):
i) for the quarter ending December 2016, for 2G services, M/s MTNL is meeting all the parameters except the parameter %age requests for Termination / Closure of service complied within 7 days (benchmark 100% within 7 days). As regards M/s BSNL, the service provider is meeting the benchmarks for all the parameters, except for the parameters, Worst affected cells having more than 3% TCH drop (benchmark < 3%) in West Bengal Service area only. Whereas M/s Aircel is not meeting the various parameters in 27 license areas, M/s Reliance Communications in GSM Services in 25 Service areas and M/s Airtel in 15 Service areas.


ii) for the quarter ending December 2016, for 3G services, M/s MTNL is meeting the benchmark for all the parameters except the parameter Point of Interconnection (POI) congestion (benchmark <0.5%). As regards M/s BSNL, the service provider is meeting the benchmarks for all the parameters, except for the parameters, Worst affected cells having more than 3% TCH (Traffic Channels) drop (benchmark < 3%) in West Bengal Service area and Worst Affected Node B’s due to downtime(%age) (benchmark < 2%) in Kolkata service area. Whereas M/s Aircel is not meeting the benchmark for various parameters in 14 license areas.
As per TRAI, the infrastructure regarding number of Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) (CDMA,2G) and Node Bs(3G) of BSNL and MTNL in comparison to the private Telecom Service Providers(TSPs) is attached as Annexure-I.
(b) As per TRAI the number of total subscribers and urban subscribers of BSNL and MTNL in comparison to the private Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for the years 2015 and 2016 are at Annexure-II.
(c) At present, there is no proposal for merger of BSNL and MTNL.
(d) It is reported by BSNL and MTNL that the employees have the skills required to maintain the existing core network of landline/mobile services. Regular training is also given to employees from time to time in different areas.


Annexure-I
Total number of BTSs (2G, 3G and CDMA) as on 31 Dec 2015 and 31 Dec 2016
<pre>
CDMA BTSs
Service provider As on Dec-2016 As on Dec-2015
Tata 11533 12978
Sistema 8216 8214
MTNL/BSNL 9046 11303
RCL/RTL - 20645
Quadrant - 13

2G BTSs
Service provider As on Dec-2016 As on Dec-2015
Bharti 156129 148181
Idea 132305 122215
Vodafone 140025 133248
RCL/RTL 37273 37188
Aircel 50327 48831
MTNL/BSNL 84444 81139
Tata 43136 42745
Telenor 24949 24112
Quadrant 2410 2376
Videocon - 5070

3G BTSs (Node B)
Service provider As on Dec-2016 As on Dec-2015
Bharti 114776 60865
Idea 62751 44901
Vodafone 66960 40298
RCL/RTL 12082 10516
Tata 13854 12471
Aircel 17238 14928
MTNL/BSNL 38020 30027
</pre>

Annexure-II
Total and Urban Wireless Subscribers as on 31.12.2015
<pre>
Sr. No. Companies No. of Subscribers No. of urban Subscribers % of Urban Subscribers
1 Bharti 243289404 125,794,882 51.71%
2 Vodafone 193600085 90,864,517 46.93%
3 Idea 171912608 77,460,615 45.06%
4 Reliance 100890431 76,240,654 75.57%
5 BSNL 82507640 54,973,007 66.63%
6 Aircel 85632249 56,255,326 65.69%
7 Tata 60727856 45,089,017 74.25%
8 Telenor 50702396 35,030,290 69.09%
9 Sistema Shyam 8006814 6,280,836 78.44%
10 Videocon 6958178 5,091,754 73.18%
11 MTNL 3614439 3,614,439 100.00%
13 Quadrant 3047100 2,971,578 97.52%
Total 1010889200 579,666,915 57.34%

</pre>
Total and Urban Wireless Subscribers as on 31.12.2016
<pre>
</pre>
Sr. No. Companies No. of Subscribers Urban Subscribers %age Urban Subscribers
1 Bharti 265852605 135,277,788 50.88%
2 Vodafone 204686930 94,742,247 46.29%
3 Idea 190517876 86,162,936 45.23%
4 Reliance 86544929 65,960,195 76.21%
5 R JIO 72157644 68,033,732 94.28%
6 BSNL 96787880 65,159,641 67.32%
7 Aircel 90875553 59,198,142 65.14%
8 Tata 52977786 39,026,401 73.67%
9 Telenor 54469499 37,917,382 69.61%
10 Sistema Shyam 5877613 4,608,522 78.41%
11 MTNL 3625895 3,577,249 98.66%
12 Quadrant 2999158 2,931,721 97.75%
Total 1127373368 662,595,956 58.77%




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