BSNL signs franchisees for BWA spectrum

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a telecommunications company providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India has opted for a franchise model to monetise its Rs 8,313.80 crore investment on securing pan-India Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum.

The company has opted for a franchise model on a revenue-sharing basis to use this spectrum. The company has short-listed three companies namely Teracom, Starnet and Take Solutions as its franchisees and will be responsible to distribute BWA spectrum in their respective territories. Teracom has been given Rajasthan, Karnataka and Bihar circles, Starnet has Chennai Telecom District and Himachal Pradesh and Take Solutions has won rights in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Orissa. As per the agreement, the franchisees have to deploy the WiMax network and BSNL would provide infrastructure like premises, towers and media connectivity.