BSNL mulling to form separate arm for tower infrastructure
23 Feb 2013 8:31 AM IST
The government on Friday said state-owned BSNL is considering a separate subsidiary for its tower- related infrastructure and has floated an expression of interest for appointing a consultant on the matter.
'BSNL has floated an expression of interest (EOI) for appointment of consultant to advise and assist it in setting up a separate subsidiary company for tower related infrastructure,' Minister of State for Communications and IT Killi Kruparani said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
She said, however, that there is no proposal under consideration of BSNL for setting up of separate subsidiary company for land bank and other real estate.
The government had set up a committee in January 2012 under Sam Pitroda to review the functioning of BSNL.
'The committee recommended to create a separate subsidiary company for tower related infrastructure to aggressively market to other public and private sector customers and unlock the whole potential value through strategic stake sale, M&A or separate IPO,' Kruparani said.
The committee also recommended exploring possibilities of monetising other such subsystems.
'To create a separate subsidiary to hold undeveloped land bank and other real estate assets and a large number of unutilised staff quarter etc, the committee further recommended to monetise the value of this subsidiary by collaborating with a reputed and experienced real estate company in a transparent manner,' Kruparani added.
In a separate reply, she said BSNL has been witnessing a decline in its revenue for the last three years.
'BSNL's revenue declined to Rs 27,934 crore in 2011-12 from Rs 29,688 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 32,045 crore in 2009-10,' she added.
In order to augment its revenue, BSNL has decided to rent out its telecom towers to other service providers and has also signed agreements in this regard with private operators for which a revenue of Rs 132.87 crore has been realised since 2009-10.
'To monetise its land assets, BSNL has taken up a pilot project for the commercial exploitation of 10 parcels of land.
For this purpose, a project development consultant has been appointed,' she said.
GOVT EXPECTS Rs 43,000 CR FROM SPECTRUM SALE AT BASE PRICE
The government will get Rs 43,011 crore if all the spectrum is sold at at the base price in the auction, Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said on Thursday.
The government has announced starting auction in March for 2G spectrum that remained unsold in November auction. Also, spectrum held by existing operators Airtel, Vodafone and Loop Mobile through licences that are due for renewal in 2014 will also be auctioned.
‘The estimated realisation from this auction assuming that all spectrum put to auction is sold at the reserve price is of Rs 43,011 crore,’ Deora said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
In the second round of auction, the government will put unsold GSM spectrum in 1800 Mhz band and airwaves held by telecom licences in 900 Mhz band that is coming for renewal starting 2014 onwards.
The bids for spectrum will start from March 11 for which companies can apply by 25 February.
'BSNL has floated an expression of interest (EOI) for appointment of consultant to advise and assist it in setting up a separate subsidiary company for tower related infrastructure,' Minister of State for Communications and IT Killi Kruparani said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
She said, however, that there is no proposal under consideration of BSNL for setting up of separate subsidiary company for land bank and other real estate.
The government had set up a committee in January 2012 under Sam Pitroda to review the functioning of BSNL.
'The committee recommended to create a separate subsidiary company for tower related infrastructure to aggressively market to other public and private sector customers and unlock the whole potential value through strategic stake sale, M&A or separate IPO,' Kruparani said.
The committee also recommended exploring possibilities of monetising other such subsystems.
'To create a separate subsidiary to hold undeveloped land bank and other real estate assets and a large number of unutilised staff quarter etc, the committee further recommended to monetise the value of this subsidiary by collaborating with a reputed and experienced real estate company in a transparent manner,' Kruparani added.
In a separate reply, she said BSNL has been witnessing a decline in its revenue for the last three years.
'BSNL's revenue declined to Rs 27,934 crore in 2011-12 from Rs 29,688 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 32,045 crore in 2009-10,' she added.
In order to augment its revenue, BSNL has decided to rent out its telecom towers to other service providers and has also signed agreements in this regard with private operators for which a revenue of Rs 132.87 crore has been realised since 2009-10.
'To monetise its land assets, BSNL has taken up a pilot project for the commercial exploitation of 10 parcels of land.
For this purpose, a project development consultant has been appointed,' she said.
GOVT EXPECTS Rs 43,000 CR FROM SPECTRUM SALE AT BASE PRICE
The government will get Rs 43,011 crore if all the spectrum is sold at at the base price in the auction, Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said on Thursday.
The government has announced starting auction in March for 2G spectrum that remained unsold in November auction. Also, spectrum held by existing operators Airtel, Vodafone and Loop Mobile through licences that are due for renewal in 2014 will also be auctioned.
‘The estimated realisation from this auction assuming that all spectrum put to auction is sold at the reserve price is of Rs 43,011 crore,’ Deora said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
In the second round of auction, the government will put unsold GSM spectrum in 1800 Mhz band and airwaves held by telecom licences in 900 Mhz band that is coming for renewal starting 2014 onwards.
The bids for spectrum will start from March 11 for which companies can apply by 25 February.
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