MTNL against sharing network with pvt operators

It is unfair to expect state-run telecoms company Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd to allow private operators to use its network connections, its chairman and managing director, R S P Sinha, said on Thursday.

Access to the "last mile" of connectivity, the telecom lines leading into homes and offices, has remained the monopoly of state-run companies such as MTNL and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd in India.

"We have built the infrastructure and why should anyone else use it? Will they pay the salaries of our employees?" Sinha replied to a question at a US-India business summit. He said the issue had been a problem around the world.

Private sector carriers such as Bharti Airtel Ltd want the government to open up such connectivity so there was no duplication of infrastructure. They need "last mile" access to provide broadband speeds of 256 kilobytes per second and above.

"We have started offering broadband in order to retain our fixed-line customers, which has been seeing a decline," Sinha told media.

MTNL has 400,000 broadband customers and a fixed-line subscriber base of 380,000. For the year to March 2008, the company has a target of reaching 1.5 million broadband subscribers, Sinha said.