BSNL refuses to reconnect mobile operators
22 Oct 2011
State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has still not restored interconnectivity services to private telecom operators in the Punjab circle till this morning, defying the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's orders to do so.
"There is no official communication yet from our headquarters for restoring services to private operators," a senior official of BSNL said in Chandigarh on Friday.
On Tuesday, TRAI had issued directive to BSNL to immediately restore the interconnectivity of private operators in the Punjab circle and send a compliance report by Friday. But despite the directions BSNL has failed to restore the Points of Interconnection (PoI) which provide connectivity between BSNL's land line phones and mobile phones of private operators within the state.
On 29 September, BSNL – which runs the country's largest landline network – had disconnected five mobile operators - Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices, Reliance Communications and Idea – saying they had not paid pending dues amounting to Rs13 crore. However, on 3 October BSNL Punjab circle restored services to Reliance and Tata as telecom tribunal TDSAT stayed BSNL from disconnecting services of private operators.
Subscribers of the three remaining mobile operators are still unable to make calls from mobile phones to landlines and vice versa.
When contacted, by The Indian Express, a senior TRAI official said ''We received information on Thursday that the services have been partially resumed. But when we checked today, none of the services have been resumed by the BSNL.''