Last week, it was MTNL which fired the first shot by applying for licences to operate basic services in 10 circles where BSNL already exists. BSNL then countered by filing for basic service licences in Delhi and Mumbai-the traditional territories of MTNL. In the latest salvo, MTNL is staking a claim to becoming the third cellular operator in some non-metro circles. The glitch: the DoT disapproves.

Says a senior MTNL official: "The National Telecom Policy 1999 says that MTNL/BSNL can become the third operator. So on that basis, we want the licence to operate cellular services as the third operator in the some of the circles, contiguous to our current territories." An application in this context is believed to have been filed with the DoT.

However, a DoT official gives a different interpretation of NTP '99: "The NTP says that MTNL can operate cellular services as the third operator only in Delhi and Mumbai and BSNL has the right to do so in the rest of the country."

So, if the MTNL wants to enter cellular services, it will have to bid for the fourth licence like the rest of the private players-or it will have to thrash out a compromise formula with the BSNL, he adds.

Meanwhile, MTNL has applied for basic service licences in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, and UP (West). However, MTNL sources feels it has done no wrong by infringing on BSNL's territory in either basic or cellular services. "Rather than let the money lie idle in banks, we should make sensible diversifications. We owe that to our investors. Besides, tomorrow when disinvestment in MTNL takes place, there would be no question of co-ordinating or co-operating with the BSNL," adds an MTNL official.

Dolphin's Mumbai launch on March 2
MTNL will launch Dolphin, its cellular service in Mumbai on March 2, and not February 28 as envisaged earlier. "We will now launch our cellular services in Mumbai on March 2. There won't be any further delays," said Mr Ramani Aiyar, chief general manager, MTNL Mumbai. "We thought everybody, including the media, would be occupied with the Budget on February 28," said Mr Ramani by way of explanation on the delay.