MTNL invites bids for 3G roaming in Delhi and Mumbai

NEW DELHI - Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd(MTNL) has invited bids from operators, who could not get 3G spectrum in Delhi and Mumbai circles in the auction held in June, to provide roaming facility for their subscribers on its network.

The company has kept the minimum floor price at Rs.140 crore per year for each circle. The bidder shall have to submit a security amount of Rs.70 lakh also.

The bidding started Oct 8 and the last day for submitting response is Nov 8.

MTNL had borrowed Rs.7000 crore from financial institutions to pay for the 3G licenses. This is a major step taken by the telco to generate revenue from the 3G services and service the debt.

Only Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Communications could win 3G license in the Delhi and Mumbai circles.

Under this agreement, MTNL would provide interconnection at Delhi and Mumbai circles and the infrastructure and port charges for the same will be borne by the bidder.

The highest bidder will be decided based on rate quoted against annual fixed charges per year separately for Delhi and Mumbai.

The duration of agreement to be entered into will initially be for five years from the date of agreement.

“MTNL will initially enter into 3G in roaming agreement with two operators in each city on H-1 Evaluated prices of that city,” the company said on its website.

Based on the availability of traffic handling capacity in MTNL’s network, the company will decide on additional number of operators with whom roaming agreements can be entered into, it added.