State-owned fixed line operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is looking to surrender its broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum to the government, according to news website LightReading.
The company reportedly paid Rs83.1bn (US$1.68bn) to purchase BWA…
State-owned fixed line operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is looking to surrender its broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum to the government, according to news website LightReading.
The company reportedly paid Rs83.1bn (US$1.68bn) to purchase BWA frequencies last year.
BSNL chairman RK Upadhyay was quoted saying that the company has written to the government but reportedly did not comment on whether it received a response yet.
The report suggests that BSNL is looking to surrender spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band because it is unsuitable for LTE time division duplex (TDD) technology. The latter has been chosen by most other operators using spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band. As a result, it might be difficult for the company to compete with these operators.
LightReading further speculates that LTE technology could cannibalise BSNL’s existing CDMA EV-DO-based mobile broadband services.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), another state-owned telco, may decide to follow suit as both companies have met financial difficulties in recent years, according to the website.
It was reported, a few months ago, that BSNL, MTNL and equipment maker Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) might be merged in order to turnaround the companies.
BSNL could not be reached for comment before the press deadline.
