KOLKATA: The telecom department (DoT) has for the first time set a cutoff date—July 31, 2015—for concluding the much discussed merger of struggling state-run telecom companies, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.

In a presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seen by ET, DoT said it expects to "secure Cabinet approval for the proposed BSNL-MTNL merger by June 30 next year".

NEW DELHI: BSNL lost over 21 lakh wireless subscribers in June as the state-run telecom company cleaned up its base of non-active users.

According to the figures released by sectoral regulator Trai, BSNL lost 21.40 lakh subscribers in June and its user base has shrunk to 8.94 crore at the end of month.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the prime reason for the decline of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was inadequate investment in infrastructure expansion in recent years.

The other two reasons for BSNL slipping into the red, according to him, were high employee cost and poor perception of quality of service provided.

Idea customers may face coverage disruptions in the future if the third-largest mobile carrier in the country does not ink a fresh interconnection pact with state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) in the seven regions where it was issued unified permits in October last year.

BSNL has sought DoT's intervention to prevail upon Idea to sign a fresh interconnect pact with it in Assam, J&K, Northeast, Kolkata, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) and Odisha circles where the Aditya Birla group firm was issued fresh unified licences after its earlier operating permits in these markets were quashed in the 2G case.

NEW DELHI: State-run BSNL suffered a loss of Rs 14,979 crore in landline services during 2013-14 whereas its net loss for the period stood at Rs 7,085 crore.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, minister of communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said loss for landline business of BSNL for 2013-14 stood at Rs 14,979 crore and net loss at Rs 7085 crore. The figures for the period are provisional and unaudited.

State-run telecom firm MTNL has shown profit of Rs 7,825 crore on books for 2013-14 on account of some write back provisions, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday. It had last posted annual profit of Rs 211.7 crore in 2008-09.

KOLKATA: Leadership succession at state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam LtdBSE 2.21 % continues to remain in limbo.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has refused to clear BSNL director (consumer mobility) Anupam Shrivastava's appointment as future chairman & managing director of the state-run telco after incumbent R K Upadhyay retires on June 30.

Markets have started the trading session on a marginally positive note tracking higher global cues along with capital goods shares leading the gains.

By 9:25, the Sensex was higher by 75 points at 24,624 mark and the Nifty gained by 19 points at 7,336 levels.

NAVI MUMBAI: A major fire broke out at the BSEL Tech Tower opposite the Vashi railway station at around 11.30am on Tuesday.

Flames engulfed the sixth and seventh floors of the building housing offices before firemen brought the fire under control.

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