Notice To DoT On Plea Seeking 4G Services From BSNL

The Madurai bench of the Madras high court has issued a notice to the department of telecommunications, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to respond to a petition which sought for providing fourth generation (4G) network from state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to all districts in Tamil Nadu.

K Venkatesh, a businessman from Virudhunagar contended in his petition that the public sector undertaking is in a bad shape now due to mismanagement by politicians, which has aided the private players in the segment.

The petitioner pointed out that BSNL was not permitted to procure mobile equipment from Chinese vendors citing flimsy and non-existent security considerations while freely allowing private operators to procure equipment from those vendors.

According to the petitioner, despite several policy impediments, BSNL employees and management strived to revive the company.

The government, the petitioner said, has not even allotted 4G spectrum to BSNL, while private mobile operators are functioning on the 5G spectrum. “The government has the duty to improve the quality of public sector companies in India, rather than developing and providing high-quality network to private players,” the petitioner said and claimed that certain appointments in TRAI were made to facilitate private players.

All private operators, except BSNL launched 4G service over two years ago and captured the market leaving BSNL losing edge in the competition, the petitioner said and contended that the government departments are deliberately causing industrial unrest and making BSNL financially sick.―Times of India