MTNL may float separate company for cellular operations

BANGALORE: The government is examining whether Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. can float a separate company for its cellular operations within the telecom policy without attracting any legal barrier, MTNL chairman and managing director S. Rajagopalan has said.

Ruling out the possibility of any cross-subsidization for its cellular business, Mr Rajagopalan said the company has to be cautious about floating a subsidiary for the mobile phone operations since the license has been given to the MTNL. ''With great difficulty I have got back this license and I do not want somebody to jeopardize it by going to court interpreting that the third operator has to be MTNL and not its subsidiary," he added.

However, in case the domestic monopoly carrier floats a subsidiary for cellular, the government would be asked to provide it the advantage given to the private operators like the equity participation by foreign companies. ''I must also get a level-playing as talked about by others," the company chief said. He said as part of its strategy to be a global player, MTNL is planning to take a major stake in Uganda Telecom, a leading telecom service provider in Africa.