The Group of Ministers on the revival of BSNL and MTNL
is likely to focus on spectrum-related issues
at its meeting scheduled for August 1.
Spectrum related issues
include demand by these public sector units for refund of their wireless
broadband airwaves that can be used for 4G services and one-time spectrum
charge levied on them for holding airwaves beyond the allocation made to them
with licences.
BSNL and MTNL were asked to pay Rs
8,313.8 crore and Rs 4,533.97 crore, respectively on June 20, 2010 for the broadband airwaves. One-time fee
for BSNL’s GSM spectrum amounts to around Rs 6,912 crore and MTNL Rs 3,205
crore.
These two issues of both the
PSUs jointly account for Rs 22,964 crore.
MTNL net loss widened to Rs 5,321.12
crore for the financial year 2012-13 compared with Rs 4,109.78 crore in FY’12.
BSNL losses, as per unaudited results, stood at Rs 8,198 crore for 2012-13
compared with Rs 8,851 crore posted in 2011-12.
