With state-owned BSNL amenable to sharing its network with private operators and also willing to enter into roaming pacts with them, all private operators have shown their interest and written letters to it enquiring whether such pacts would be limited to 2G networks or can also be between 2G and 4G networks.
In a letter addressed to BSNL CMD Anupam Srivastava, Bharti Airtel has said BSNL has among the largest infrastructure in terms of optical fibre, copper lines, network and telecom towers. “However, the same has not been shared with private telecom operators so far. Bharti Airtel would like to join hands and partner with you to address the issues pertaining to call drops and for optimum utilisation of allocated spectrum,” said Bharti Airtel’s letter, expressing hope that it would be given equal opportunity to participate in a fair, open and transparent manner.
Bharti Airtel said it would like to know if the proposed intra-circle roaming (ICR) arrangement is limited to 2G-2G or is open for 2G-3G and 2G-4G. “We would like to know the complete details of the proposal and process for ICR arrangements”. Other telcos, namely Vodafone and Idea Cellular, are also understood to have written similar letters to BSNL’s CMD.
Last week, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents GSM operators including Bharti Airtel, had complained to telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad against BSNL’s reported attempts at talks with a “particular company” for entering into pacts like ICR, spectrum sharing and trading. But the BSNL CMD had said that the company was not violating norms and is currently in talks with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Communications for ICR arrangements.
Soon after the COAI letter, Mukesh Ambani’s telecom arm, Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL), hit out at COAI for writing to the telecom minister on policy issues without consulting all its members and allegedly leaking the letter. RJIL, a GSM operator, is a member of COAI.