State-ownd telecom operators Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) have asked the government to bear the entire burden of nearly Rs11,000 crore they need to fork out as one-time payment for additional spectrum.

In separate letters to the department of telecommunications (DoT),  the two companies said they were in serious financial trouble and did not have the money required, though they needed additional spectrum to ''serve their customers''.

According to analysts, the move by the two public sector telecom giants could end up throwing the government's plans to earn around Rs40,000 crore this financial year from one-time fee for additional spectrum with incumbent players and the 2G spectrum auction, out of kilter.

The two PSUs were expected to contribute a substantial portion of the Rs27,000 crore the government expected to net in one-time fee from incumbent operators with over 4.4 MHz of GSM spectrum (and more than 2.5 MHz CDMA spectrum). The payment would be required to be made prospectively.

The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on telecom took the decision during its last meeting on 8 October.

Endorsing the demand, the DoT has decided to put the ball in the court of the said EGoM, headed by finance minister P Chidambaram, adding that in view of the financial difficulties faced by the two PSUs, it would put up a request for in-principle approval from the EGoM and then from the cabinet for financial support to both PSUs.

In 2011-12, BSNL incurred losses of Rs8,800 crore and MTNL Rs4,100 crore. BSNL had approached the government with a proposal to return its broadband wireless access licence in 13-14 circles, for which it had paid Rs8,300 crore.

BSNL had over 4.4 MHz GSM spectrum in 20 circles, and in 15 of those more than 10 MHz, the highest spectrum available with any operator.

R K Upadhyay, chairman of BSNL, said in his letter, the company had already made a significant investment in rolling out the network to utilise that spectrum but ''due to its present financial condition, BSNL is not in a position to pay any additional amount for retention, though the spectrum is essential to serve customers''.

He conceded that the company was willing to return its additional CDMA spectrum in Kerala, where it had 3.75 MHz.

According to MTNL chairman A K Garg, it had 12.4 MHz GSM spectrum in Delhi and Mumbai and also had made significant investments to utilise it.

However, private operators point out that if such a package was given to the two PSUs, then they too would seek financial support.

An industry representative said, it would not be fair that the government extend support to the PSUs alone when they were competing with the private players in the same market. This would distort the field he added.

While the decision of the EGoM would impact BSNL and MTNL the most, private players such as Airtel and Reliance Communications would have to cough up around Rs4,000 crore each.

Meanwhile the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI), representing the interests of RCom and Tata Teleservices, in a letter to the prime minister has called for shelving the plan to charge the one-time fee on the ground that it favoured incumbent GSM players.

''Unilateral changes in terms and conditions of the established contract with operators would send very negative signals to investors about sanctity of contracts in India,'' the association said in its letter.