The newly-corporatised Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is the largesttelecom organisation in the country. The telecom behemoth is the size of aFortune 500 company, with assets worth over Rs 63,000 crore (book value) andan employee-strength of around 3.75 lakh. Last year, its predecessor theDepartment of Telecom Services (DTS) showed a profit of Rs 7,500 crore. Atthe helm of affairs at this massive organisation is Dr DPS Seth. In anexclusive interview with Shalini Dagar, he talks about the plans for theorganisation in the first year of its new avatar. Excerpts:As you approach the first full financial year for Bharat Sanchar NigamLimited, what is your vision for the organisation?
I would like to see BSNL as a high-tech customer-oriented organisation withgreat emphasis on value addition.
What are the projects that you would be looking at in the coming year?One of the most important projects that BSNL would be undertaking would besetting up call centres across the nation. The first prototype is already onat Indore. This is a key customer-friendly step, because now the consumercan call up on a single number and his problems will be addressed. Acomprehensive database too will be maintained.
How many call centres would be set up? And what are the investments thatare being envisaged for the project?
We plan to cover all the major cities in the first phase. I expect theinitial stages of the work to be finished in the current financial year,which is to be completed by early next financial year. As far as investmentsare concerned, these are likely to vary. While some call centres can bemanual, others are switch-based. Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Indore arelikely to be among the cities where we would be setting up call centres inthe first phase.
Yet another project that we are planning to undertake in this year is theexpansion of the National Internet Backbone (NIB). What are the targets asfar as new telephone connections are concerned?
In the coming financial year, we are planning to target 68 lakh newtelephone connections. ``BSNL is planning 68 lakh phone connections in2001-02''This is being done with a view to accomplishing the NTP'99objectives of improving the teledensity.
Of this total of 68 lakh new lines, the contribution of the cellularconnections will be 15 lakh, while the remaining 53 lakh will be contributedby the wireline telephone connections. Our commitments to wirelineconnections is at par with our present commitment this year. However, theproportion of the cellular connections has been scaled up keeping in mindthe worldwide trend wherein the growth of cellular connections is outpacingthat of wireline connections.
There are concerns about the profitability of the corporation,specifically because of one of the key contributions - about Rs 10,000 crorefrom the USO fund - might not be readily available?
Such concerns are absolutely unfounded. BSNL as a corporation would becommitted towards maintaining its profitability. However, if uneconomicactivities are to be taken up then there needs to be suitable compensationfrom the government.
Finally, what do you think are going to be the major challenges for youin the coming months?
I would say that there are three major challenges. The first is to establishBSNL as a nationwide cellular service provider. Optimising the existingnetwork infrastructure by incorporating cutting edge technical inputs suchas packet transmission of information, would be another. And finally theentire process of absorption of all the employees into the corporation wouldbe the final one.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
