The Hindu Business Line : ITSA-Govt tiff may delay telecom projects

LARGE, crucial and ambitious projects of the two Indian public sector telecom companies are in danger of critical delays if the dispute between the Indian Telecom Service Association (ITSA) and the Government is not comprehensively resolved.

Among the largest of the tenders for these projects is the one for additional GSM wireless capacity of 60 million lines for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). This has been approved by the Board of Directors, but actual issue of the tender has been delayed.

There is an another 3G tender for 8 lakh lines to be issued and another for broadband expansion as well.

MTNL too has GSM tenders to be issued for both Mumbai and Delhi. Tenders that have already been published have been postponed. A BSNL tender for 15 lakh WLL-CDMA integrated fixed wireless terminals, whose original opening date was August 2, was postponed to October 26 (the last date for choosing to join the PSUs for the telecom officers was to be October 15).

Another tender for a multi-service broadband network with 1,32,000 ports under Part 1 of the tender for 12 cities and of 1,55,000 ports under Part II for 55 cities was postponed once and has been postponed yet again now, and the new date has not been fixed either. There are several regional "circle" projects too in a state of suspension.

ITSA consists of 2,200 Group A officers in the two companies ranging in rank from Deputy General Manager to Chief General Manager. Next to the Boards of Directors, it is they who are responsible for new business and expansion plans.

It is they who constitute the teams that draw up tenders, issue them, assess them, approve them and finally help select the awardees too.

Although operations have been going on at the two PSUs (automation and group B officers take care of this), no file on new development projects has moved for several weeks now on account of the uncertainty arising from the dispute, according to executives in the two companies.

And, PSUs in any case being encumbered by procedural matters, a 20-day delay can lead to considerable loss of momentum leading to an actual project delay of even six months, said a senior MTNL executive.

And any delay for BSNL and MTNL can only mean that private companies will move even faster to build their market shares.

The parties who will suffer are the rural lot who are mainly served by the public sector companies and whose domain private parties still fear to tread.

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