Government Friday announced opening up of Internet telephony from April 1, 2002 and said the move would not affect the bidding amount of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) slated for privatisation this year. “My ambition is to provide cheaper and technologically advanced services that cannot be stopped. Disinvestment in VSNL is on and it will not be affected by this,” Union communication minister Pramod Mahajan said at the Economic Editors' Conference in New Delhi. Since the date for breaking VSNL's monopoly over ISD communication was advanced from 2004 to 2002, government has taken a decision to provide the benefit of Internet telephony to the customers simultaneously, Mahajan said.
The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has already sent a communication to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) seeking its advice on Internet telephony, the minister said.
Government has said that disinvestment in VSNL, shedding 25 per cent government stake to a strategic partner, will be completed within the current financial year.
Reliance Industries and Tatas are in race for acquiring the government's equity in the country's international traffic carrier VSNL. Bureau Report