Telecom Minister: Very Important That India Have 3-4 Big Telecom Players

It’s not just 4G and 5G data connectivity which the government is arming BSNL and MTNL with. According to Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the PSU telecom majors have offered almost 10 new products in the last four to five months. These include spam-free networks to digitisation of various services and value-added services to clients to providing internet IP-based TV, the pilot of which is being run in Madhya Pradesh to providing 5G connectivity to sectors like mining. Speaking to news agency ANI, the minister said the operating profits of BSNL have doubled in the past 3 years after government assistance and expenditure has been curtailed by 2% in the past four years. Responding to a question on why the government is still involved in the telecom sector, the minister said it is very important for a large country like India to have at least 3-4 telecom players and that is the reason the government is still supporting BSNL.