Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd may have to take a hit of upto Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million), with the Tatas-owned company losing a substantial ISD traffic originating from telecom PSU Bharat Sanchar Nigam to Reliance Infocomm.
After a fresh round of bidding, Reliance Infocomm has emerged as the first choice for carrying ISD calls of BSNL to the US, the most lucrative destination, followed by Bharti and VSNL, sources associated with the development said.
Both VSNL and BSNL differed over the traffic loss to either Reliance Infocomm or Bharti. BSNL sources said between 30 to 40 per cent of ISD traffic would now be carried by Reliance Infocomm and Bharti on different locations, while VSNL said it would lose about 20 per cent of the traffic.
For the US and Canada, Reliance is the first choice while VSNL has retained the number one position for carrying BSNL's ISD traffic in Europe and Middle East, sources said.
According to officials, BSNL offered about Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) ISD traffic to VSNL in terms of total revenue, but now stands to lose at least Rs 80 crore business.
BSNL had recently invited bids for carrying its ISD traffic in 11 sectors, including the US, Canada, Europe, Middle East and rest of the world.
Besides VSNL, Reliance Infocomm and Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti were the two winners.
BSNL gives nearly 50 million minutes of ISD calls per month. VSNL sources claimed that on nearly 80 per cent (40 million minutes), it is the first choice while for the remaining 10 million minutes other operators would be allowed to carry the calls.
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