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BSNL and Reliance on the warpath

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CIOL Bureau
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PUNE: Thanks to landlines being surrendered in large numbers and the falling growth rate of BSNL's GSM cellular service CellOne under the Reliance onslaught, BSNL employees are feeling threatened.

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Recently established The Forum of Unions and Associations of BSNL, Pune has submitted a memorandum to BSNL CMD Prithipal Singh protesting Reliance Infocomm’s "blatant" violation of WLL license regulations. This is expected to spill over into a nation-wide agitation by BSNL unions. The forum members have alleged that top management of the BSNL posed a huge threat to the company itself since they were selling out valuable information to the competition.

According to Telecom Engineering Officers’ Association (TESA) district secretary PC Dubey, many top ranking officials who have retired from BSNL have been joining private telecom companies, including Reliance. This is happening despite a conduct rule of the central civil services, which says that no Class I officer can join a private company within two years. Dubey alleged that these officers had a lot of information and are in a position to reveal this to the competition. “The rule is being flouted since these people are joining as `consultants’ instead of full-time employees,” he said.

According to Sanchar Nigam Executive Association (SNEA) VP Achyut Jadhav, they would take the forum national and agitate if no notice was taken of their requests.

“We will begin with a post card campaign to all ministry officials, followed by hate rallies,” he said.

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The union leaders of BSNL are of the opinion that the commercial viability of BSNL was under serious threat, faced by predatory pricing and unfair practices of Reliance Infocomm. Around 5,000 BSNL landlines have already been surrendered this month in favor of cheap WLL service of Reliance Infocomm, they alleged.

The memorandum submitted to Singh mentions, “It has been clearly verified in Bangalore that roaming allowed on Reliance Mobile connection in the name of multiple registration system, which is a clear-cut violation of Rule 22.C (I) of the (WLL) license, is endangering our very existence." Reliance provides roaming to its customers, whereas the license for WLL service mandates that mobility can be provided in the Short Distance Charging Area (SDCA), which is usually a taluka.

A copy of the memorandum has been submitted to the Union minister of communications and IT, minister of state for communications & IT and chairman of Telecom Commission. The Pune Forum was formed on July 10 and comprises of five BSNL unions. These associations have 4.5 lakh members across India including 4,900 from Pune.

(CNS)

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