Many Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have been turned around from being loss-making entities to becoming healthy profit making enterprises. MTNL is being transformed in much the same way. It has begun implementing projects that most people don’t even know of. MTNL’s executive director Pravin Punj talks to The Free Press Journal about MTNL’s plan. Jharkhand-born Punj has been with the telecom industry since 1984. He has been involved in the long distance communication systems (Microwaves and Optical Fibre systems), during his posting in Ranchi. After several postings across the country, Punj moved to Mumbai in August 2014 as Principal General Manager and now, he has taken over as executive director since July, 2016.
Mumbai : Excerpts:
What are MTNL’s plans to turn profitable in the coming years?
The exercise is already on. Currently, MTNL is working on city surveillance project where we are responsible for the entire backbone of the network. The data centre for the project is also with MTNL. To start with, there will be 6000 cameras spread all over the city. Due to our optic fibre network, we will be able to reach every nook and corner of the city. Wi-Fi and Fiber-to-the-Subscriber (FTTS) projects will display our potential in time to come.
The camera project in Mumbai is very large compared to any other city in the country. Your view?
Yes, this is a very large project. It will change the way the security works and will revolutionise the way Mumbai works. Under this project, all police stations can get the feed of everything that is registered by the cameras in the city.
When would the project be completed?
It would be mostly in this year.
When would the revenue from this project get reflected in MTNL’s balance sheets?
It will get reflected soon after the project is commissioned. Mostly, the revenue from the project will start to reflect in our March 2017 results. We have already received the nominal sum for this project. Apart from revenue, this project has opened up new avenues for us. For instance, some colleges like Jai Hind and Institute of Science have contacted us to set-up Wi-fi facilities for their respective campuses.
The camera project will prepare a roadmap for us and will help us in grabbing larger networking projects. We will implement these findings in the smart city and Wi-fi projects that the government has in mind. We have already participated in some tenders.
There are 3-4 major optic fibre networks in India run by our telecom operators. Where does MTNL stand in here?
Every operator has their own optic fibre network, but it is very difficult for them to have what MTNL has. The biggest advantage for MTNL is we have built ducts for telecom cables across the city. We do not have to dig the roads; we lay everything silently underground. Obviously, our ducts were damaged during the execution of the city surveillance project. This camera project itself has 90 optical fibre rings. Each ring has a capacity of carrying high bit rates (high resolution images) signals from hundreds of cameras. Currently, the signals are driven with 4mbps speed but if required we can increase it. Through such an activity, we are laying a base to reach various buildings. Then we put lead-in-cables which means the optic fibre rings will be split it into multiple parts via optical splitters. This is called passive optical network. We have the capacity to deliver 100mbps straight away to these homes.
How are you approaching the network?
We are strengthening our network. We have copper in our side and now, we have optical fibre as well in our network. We are the classical provider of landline services. There are large numbers of people who still prefer MTNL. In the same copper landline, we have been providing broadband. We are thus earning additional return on the invested capital.
How is MTNL’s revenue divided?
At the movement, voice is double the revenue compared to data. However, data revenue is growing every year.
For last few years, the company have been declining in revenues. Why?
That was because while we focused on technology, we have now to focus on customer service and marketing. We should be doing that shortly.
How has your growth been in mobile segment?
With regards to mobile phones, we have grown but we have not grown the way we should have. Currently, our market share is very low but we have a very ambitious target in this space. We have plans in 3G, but I would not like to comment about 4G as there is nothing concrete to talk about. But we are looking at upgrading from 4mbps to 21mbps (in 3G) and that has been undertaken partially in some sections. As soon as we finish the process completely, we will declare ourselves as HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access).
What kind of work have you done in the copper segment?
Last year, we undertook an interesting initiative under this segment. In order to ensure that the customer gets the right bandwidth and speed, we have decided to reach all buildings through optical fibre and then put in a piece of equipment called Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM). After that it is connected to the copper line. DSLAM is like a small exchange that is provided in the basement of the building to reach out to customers that are within 100 metres radius. Through this process, the end-user can get up to 10mbps. We covered 108 locations last year. This year we will add another 100 individual buildings and carry out copper upgradation. Customers to this service will have access not only to high speed data but also to voice. At present, we have 5, 000 consumers for this facility but we hope to serve 50, 000 customers soon. We hope to keep increasing numbers thereafter.
What are your customer service initiatives?
For customer service, we used to have multiple numbers for different activities and issues. But, now we have started a single number – ‘1130’, which offers all kind of service over phone. MTNL has an app to answer queries. We have SMS service to book complaints. We have 85 service centres spread across Mumbai. We are trying to reach out to the customers. However, we are looking at doing more in customer services.
