Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is reported to have opposed the '95' group dialling service of Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited, which allows its users to make calls between Delhi and Mumbai at local rates.
Sources said MTNL was taking undue advantage of the group dialling facility and bypassing BSNL's trunk network on the country's busiest telephone route, leading to possible long distance revenue loss. Private operators are also reportedly opposed to MTNL's group dialling service since their business has also been affected.
MTNL started its group dialling services a few months back, allowing its users to prefix 95 to MTNL numbers and make the calls. As a result, the company has witnessed a significant spurt in volumes, and recorded growth in new connections in both the cities. This has also resulted in a decrease in the surrender of fixed-line phone connections.
A senior MTNL official said the service had led to volume and revenue growth. "Instead of fighting with us, BSNL would be better off looking into the future and adopting a similar strategy. The combined effect would boost them far beyond competition like Airtel and Reliance," he said.
"If they don't want '95' dialling, we can allow local dialling with existing STD code-based dialling. The only difference will be that we will charge local call rates of 40 paise per minute," he added.
Under '95' dialling rules, calls up to 200 km are not treated as long distance calls and do not need STD-enabled lines.
Delhi and Mumbai have tele-densities close to 60 per cent and are among the largest markets in terms of telecom revenue. BSNL's reported opposition comes on the back of various issues between the two public sector telecom firms.