More than 1000 mobile towers of BSNL stalled, not paid electricity bills

More than 1,000 mobile towers of telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), and over 500 telephone exchanges, which are passing through bad times, have got stalled due to non-payment of electricity bills. This information has been given by Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Union Minister has informed the Lok Sabha that the Ministry and the Department of Telecom are preparing a Comprehensive Revival Plan to bring BSNL and MTNL back on track.

The Union Minister said that for this, the DoT has initiated a revival plan for both the telecom companies BSNL and MTNL. Regarding BSNL’s non-functional mobile towers, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that at present, 1,083 mobile towers and 524 telecom exchanges are not working across the country. In response to the question raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister said that out of these stalled mobile towers, there are 258 mobile towers which are stalled due to landowners’ deuse. Ravi Shankar Prasad has also said that BSNL has informed the landowners that the payment will be made on time.

Let us tell you that the market share of BSNL has increased between 2017 and 2019, while the market share of MTNL has dropped. In the financial year 2018-19, about 53.64 lakh users are connected with BSNL by port, while 28.27 lakh users have ported out port. At the same time, there are about 10,195 users connected with the MTNL network, while 1.35 lakh users have ported out. The Union Minister has also said that since the year 2009-10, the companies of both public sector companies are constantly in losses.

This is the government plan

Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that to bring the BSNL and MTNL back on track, work is being done on the project of lifting or reconstruction of IIM Ahmedabad, Daylight. According to the plans and suggestions made by these institutions to these institutions, a comprehensive plan will be prepared for the recovery of these companies from this situation. At present, many telecom companies are operating in losses. The government had approached the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to rescue these companies from the financial crisis.