<p> Saturday , September 9 , 2017</p><p>BSNL dares private players</p><p>Our Bureau</p><p>Calcutta, Sept. 8: Telecom service provider BSNL has chalked out an aggressive network expansion strategy and remains optimistic of reviving its business and recording net profit by 2018-19.</p><p>BSNL chairman Anupam Shrivastava said the PSU planned to invest Rs 6,000 crore over two years to set up 40,000 base transceiver stations (BTS) that will take its total BTS to 1.3 lakh. BSNL held a market share of 8.78 per cent in terms of wireless subscribers as on June 30, 2017.</p><p>"In the last three years, BSNL has already installed 40,000 BTS countrywide and in the next two years, we are going to put up another 40,000. This will be a major increase in capacity across different generation of networks," said Srivastava on the sidelines of the launch of the company's digital payment service Speedpay in association with Punjab National Bank.</p><p>Nokia, ZTE and Ericsson were among the participants to the tender floated by the telecom company.</p><p>Srivastava said BSNL had overcome its expansion problems "from 2006-12 when the private players were expanding, we were left behind. In 2012 we could succeed in procurement of new telecom equipment. On the financial side, we have now been able to reverse the downward trend and earn an operating profit".</p><p>Operating profit</p><p>In 2015-16, BSNL had recorded an operating profit of Rs 3,855 crore and the PSU remains hopeful that it would be able to maintain the trend in 2016-17. "We have come to know that revenue from operation from BSNL will be marginally plus in spite of cut-throat competition."</p><p>Minister of state for communication Manoj Sinha, present at the inauguration of Speedpay, said the PSU's network will be available along the entire stretch of the city's metro rail . </p>