BSNL-BBNL Merger To Be Completed This Month

The merger of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) with the Bharat Broadband Nigam Limited (BBNL) is set to be completed this month.

“BBNL is going to be merged in BSNL. This means that all of BharatNet work being done on an India basis will come to BSNL. The government has taken this policy decision,” BSNL’s chairman and managing director P K Purwar was quoted in a report by the Indian Express.

“The minister told me that we have a free hand to shape the turnaround. In the Budget, provision of around Rs 45,000 crore has been made for BSNL. It was earlier Rs 24,000 crore. Earlier provision was made only for spectrum. Now, it is spectrum, capex and others. So the government wants to give you a free hand. Can you perform?” Purwar said while addressing a gathering.

He explained that the BSNL is in the final stages of the 4G testing and might soon begin with the ground-level network testing and deployment.

Purwar claimed that the government is giving the state-run telco a chance to become a strategic asset and now it is upon them to prove themselves.

BSNL will reportedly gain access to Rs 60000 crore worth of universal service obligation fund (USOF) with its imminent merger with the BBNL. This will supposedly help the telecommunications company to come out of its financial crisis.