Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, d/b/a MTNL, is a state-owned telecommunications service provider and wholly owned subsidiary of BSNL headquartered in New Delhi, India. MTNL Provides services in the metro cities of Mumbai and New Delhi in India and in the island nation of Mauritius in Africa. The company had a monopoly in Mumbai and New Delhi until 1992, when the telecom sector was opened to other service providers. "Transparency makes us different" is the motto of the company. The Government of India currently holds 57% stock in the company with the rest being held by public and institutional investors. The company's shares are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange, Global depository receipts on London Stock Exchange and American depository receipts on New York Stock Exchange., it has 3.35 million subscribers.
It is also a public sector enterprise of Navratna status which is given by Government of India to the best performing state owned companies.
Name
The company's name derives from Hindi: mahanagar meaning "metropolis" and nigam meaning "corporation".History
Bombay Telephone was founded in 1882. The first telephone exchange in Mumbai began operations on 28 January 1882. Delhi's first telephone system was established in 1911. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam was created by the Government of India in 1986 to oversee the telephone services of Delhi and Mumbai.Products
Telephone and Mobile
MTNL provides fixed line telephones and WLL services. It also provides mobile services on GSM and CDMA platforms. MTNL various service brands are:Phone numbers belonging to MTNL start with the prefix 2 in fixed line telephones and WLL. In GSM, mobile numbers start with the prefixes 901x, 9868, 9757, 9869, 9968, and 9969.
MTNL's efficiency has drastically improved over the years. In the past, a customer had to wait much longer to secure a connection but now he/she can receive a connection within hours of the subscription request being filed.
Radio frequency summary
MTNL owns spectrum in 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 MHz bands across the country.| Telecom circle coverage | FD-LTE 850MHz Band 5 | E-GSM 900MHz Band 8 | GSM / FD-LTE 1800MHz Band 3 | UMTS 2100MHz Band 1 |
| Delhi | ||||
| Mumbai |
3G Mobile Service
MTNL started 3G services in India under the name of "MTNL 3G Jadoo." Services offered include video calling, mobile TV and mobile broadband with high speed data connectivity up to 3.6 Mbit/s from 11 December 2008. MTNL plans to offer 3G services across India by mid-2009. MTNL also provides 3G data cards for usage in devices other than mobile phones. MTNL will be installing 15 lakh 3G lines in the first phase of its 3G roll-out in Mumbai and Delhi. MTNL announced in Jan, 2012 that they will upgrade its 3G network to more advanced HSPA+ with download speeds up to 28.8Mbit/s before the end of 2012.MTNL rolled out its BlackBerry solutions on the 2G and 3G networks by launching India's first 3G-enabled BlackBerry Bold smart phones.
Broadband and FTTH
MTNL is the largest ISP in Mumbai and Delhi, and the third largest ISP in India though it has presence just in two circles. MTNL provides TriBand Internet services through dialup and DSL. It provides games on demand, video on demand, and IPTV services in India through TriBand. TriBand is targeted at homes and small businesses.MTNL began offering fibre-to-the-home triple play high speed broadband service in Delhi on 9 November 2011. FTTH, with core network speed up to 1 Gbit/s, was launched in Mumbai on 1 March 2012. MTNL FTTH Broadband offers several services based on triple play services like IPTV, HDTV, 3DTV, video on demand, bandwidth on demand, instant video conferencing, interactive gaming and several other value added services.
In 2004, telecom regulator TRAI mandated a minimum speed of 256 kbit/s for all broadband connections. MTNL increased the minimum speed of all its broadband plans to 512 kbit/s from existing 256 kbit/s, effective 26 January 2012, becoming the first ISP in India to opt for a minimum broadband speed from 256 kbit/s to 512 kbit/s, without any mandatory regulation. On 12 November 2013, MTNL announced that it would upgrade the speed of all its existing unlimited broadband plans in Mumbai to a minimum of 1 Mbit/s, at no additional cost.
MTNL also provides other services such as VPN, VOIP, and leased lines through BSNL and VSNL.