The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has awarded a national long-distance (NLD) licence to Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL), a move that enables the operator to offer domestic long-distance calls on its own network.

The company, which provides telecom services under the ‘MTS’ brand, has been providing domestic long-distance services (STD) using Tata Teleservices NLD network.

Will reduce STD rates The CDMA operator would now be able to reduce STD call rates as the licence would enable it minimise interconnect user charges, sources close to the development told BusinessLine .

When contacted a company spokesperson confirmed that it has got the licence, but declined to provide further details.

The effective date of the licence is September 3, 2014, with a 20-year validity.

The company had paid a fee of ₹2.5 crore for the NLD licence, sources added.

Nine circles SSTL has operations across nine circles — Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, West Bengal, Gujarat, Delhi, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh (West) — with a subscriber base of more than 10 million.

The company had undertaken an authorisation to get an NLD licence when it was awarded the Unified Access Services Licence (UASL). The CDMA operator had got the UASL, which permits its provide telecom services, in October last year. In the second quarter ended June 30, SSTL — the Indian arm of the Russian conglomerate Sistema — pared its consolidated net loss to ₹402.5 crore mainly driven by a growth in non-voice revenues.

The company had posted a net loss of ₹844.7 crore during the comparable quarter a year ago.

In February 2, 2012, order the Supreme Court had cancelled 122 mobile licences under the 2G scam, of which 21 licences where that of SSTL.

Related Topics