Panel on MTNL-BSNL merger formed

(Courtesy : thehinduonnet.com)

New Delhi, Sept. 6. (UNI): The government today said it has formed a committee to consider merger of public-sector giants Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL).

``Yesterday, we had a meeting of secretaries and decided to form small committees to consider merger of BSNL and MTNL and other issues of importance in the telecom sector,'' Communications and Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan said here.

The other committees would consider issues such as introduction of 3G technology in cellular telephony and meeting the village public telephones targets, he told newspersons after receiving `Telecom Man of the Year Award' for 2001 from PTC India Foundation.

``They will submit reports in next two to three weeks and then only forward action on merger proposal can be considered,'' he said.

Late last month, the Minister had floated the idea of merger of BSNL and MTNL. ``Present arrangement of having separate telecom companies based on their geographical coverage do not make sense,'' he had said.

The proposed merger will combine synergies of the two companies and help in countering the challenge of private operators.

MTNL offers basic, cellular and internet services in Delhi and Mumbai, BSNL provides basic, national long distance, cellular and internet services in rest of the country.