State run telco MTNL has made its first profit in 17 quarters - posting Rs 428.03 crore profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2013, on account of writing off BWA spectrum payment worth Rs 1,404.9 crore. This follows the government's decision to refund the one-time upfront charges of BWA spectrum due to the surrender of BWA spectrum by MTNL. Without this, the telco would've reported a loss of Rs 968.85 crore for the quarter, as against Rs 947.1 crore loss in the previous quarter and Rs 1,182.2 crore loss in the same quarter last year. The telco says the amortized BWA spectrum amount of Rs 1,556 crore (up to September 30, 2013) has been reversed, of which Rs 1,404.9 crore (up to March 31, 2013) has been shown as exceptional items while the balance amount of Rs 1,511.32 crore (April 1, 2013-September 30, 2013) has been reversed and adjusted in the amortization schedule. The total operational revenue for MTNL was at Rs 853.4 crore for the quarter, which was marginally up from Rs 813.5 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 835.02 crore in the same quarter last year. Basic Services vs Cellular Services Basic (Fixed line) services reported revenues of Rs 667.03 crore for the quarter, up from Rs 640.8 crore in the previous quarter but marginally down from Rs 668.9 crore in the same quarter last year. Basic (Fixed line) services still accounts for a majority of MTNL’s revenues, although the segment's contribution has declined marginally to 77.78% of telco's Rs 857.56 crore revenue (includes inter-segment…
