NEW DELHI, NOV 6: Chennai may have a new telephone operator soon if the recent assurance given by the Prime Minister Vajpayee to Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi is any indication. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), which operates telephone services in Mumbai and Delhi already, is likely to bag the Chennai metro, along with the satellite industrial townships in Greater Chennai - Sriperumbudur and Maraimalai Nagar - much to the chagrin of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).The MTNL promises ` phone on demand' within three months of it being given the right to operate services in the metro. The MTNL, sources say, will use latest wireless in local loop (WLL) technology which can provide telephones at short notice as it does not require laying of underground cables after manual digging at least in the special OYT (Own your telephone) categories.The inclusion of Greater Chennai in the MTNL's ambit has been done at the behest of the Tamil Nadu chief minister especially with the developmentof an industrial township in this area what with several auto companies making a beeline there. The DoT has been resisting such a move as handing over of metros to MTNL may mean reducing the profitability of the Tamil Nadu circle for the Department when it undertakes its own corporatisation. The DoT, ever since MTNL has surfaced as a contender for the metro, has reportedly pulled up its socks and has offered to the TN government hurrying up in providing speedy telephone connections in the city.On MTNL's part the city is an ideal place for the cash-rich company as it has a `healthy' waiting list of 75,000 to about a lakh subscribers, and has an above average per line revenue estimated at Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per line per month. This would help MTNL in pushing up its per line revenues which have stagnated in the region of Rs 1,200 per line per month in Delhi and Mumbai.What may clinch the deal in favour of the MTNL is the fact that any equity participation by the corporation would be available for thegovernment to disinvest for raising resources. Adding another metro to MTNL's portfolio would enhance the market value of MTNL's share in the international market giving maximum benefit to the government. Moreover, telecom scrips like MTNL would be star performers in an otherwise damp international stock market.The government would be in a position to disinvest the equity put in by MTNL in the Chennai licence right away as the 10-month period for the bar on disinvestment since the last GRD in December last is just over, making it an extremely attractive opportunity for the government to raise resources.
