India’s telecoms ministry will soon seek approval from the government to hive off into a new arm the towers held by struggling state-owned BSNL, according to an internal note quoted in a media report.
Once the new entity has been established, the…
India’s telecoms ministry will soon seek approval from the government to hive off into a new arm the towers held by struggling state-owned BSNL, according to an internal note quoted in a media report.
Once the new entity has been established, the ministry wants to bring in a private joint venture partner through a competitive process within nine months, the Economic Times wrote. BSNL owns in excess of 60,000 towers across India.
The company and the telecoms ministry were not immediately available for comment.
BSNL and MTNL, both state-run, have been struggling in India’s crowded mobile industry.
Earlier this year, the two wireless players received government approval to sell their unused broadband wireless access spectrum back to the state for Rs110bn (US$1.8bn).
Since 2010, several options have been considered to revive the telcos, including tower sales and a merger. In September last year, BSNL and MTNL signed an agreement to share their network assets, which include buildings, towers and international long-distance phone networks.
