Excerpted with permission from The Pioneer. The much-awaited Government plan for merger of two State-owned telecom firms has taken a final shape as Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) are all set to start functioning as a single new entity from the next financial year. The name of the proposed new entity will be declared soon by the Government, while the merger will happen by the end of December. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is working on the issue, and after the merger both the public sector telecom firms will synergise operations by offering their services across the country as a single entity. “Though the decision on merging BSNL and MTNL is expected to happen by December-end this year, the other pre-merger procedures of the Government will continue till March 31, 2016. The proposed newly-formed…
