Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (abbreviated as MTNL) () is a wholly owned

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (commonly known as BSNL) () is an Indian Public Sector Undertakings in India, central public sector undertaking, under the ownership of Department of Telecommunications, which is part of the Ministry of Communicatio ...

. Headquartered in New Delhi, India. MTNL provides services in the metro cities of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and in the island nation of

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. It had a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

in Mumbai and New Delhi until 1992, when the telecom sector was opened to other service providers. "एमटीएनएल है, तो सही है" (Meaning: If MTNL is there, then everything is fine) & "Transparency makes us different" is its motto. , it has 1.92 million subscribers.

Name

It has its name derived from

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

: ''mahanagar'' meaning "metropolis" (''maha'' "big", ''nagar'' "city") 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 The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

and

CDMA Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...

platforms. MTNL's various service brands are: :''Dolphin'' – a postpaid GSM service which also provides value-added services such as 3G, :''Trump'' – a prepaid GSM service, similar to Dolphin, :''Garuda'' – a WLL service which provides an ''FW'' tariff, and a ''Mobile'' tariff Phone numbers belonging to MTNL start with the prefix 2 in fixed line telephones and WLL. In

, mobile numbers start with the prefixes 901x, 9757, 9868, 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.

Spectrum frequency holding summary

MTNL owns spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and 2100 MHz bands across two circle of

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

3G Mobile Service

MTNL started 3G services in

under the name of "MTNL 3G Jadoo." Services offered include video calling,

mobile TV Mobile television is television watched on a small handheld or mobile device, typically developed for that purpose. It includes service delivered via mobile phone networks, received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations, or via satel ...

and

mobile broadband Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile network, mobile (cell) networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartp ...

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

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

(which currently have 40 lakh existing mobile lines). MTNL announced in January 2012 that it would upgrade its 3G network to more advanced HSPA+ with download speeds up to 28.8 Mbit/s before the end of 2012. MTNL rolled out its

BlackBerry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

solutions on the 2G and 3 G networks by launching India's first 3G-enabled BlackBerry Bold smartphones.

Broadband and FTTH

MTNL is the largest ISP in Mumbai and Delhi (in terms of market share), and the third largest ISP in India though it has presence just in two circles. MTNL provides ''TriBand'' Internet services through

dialup Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...

and

DSL Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...

. It provides games on demand, video on demand, and

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...

services in India through ''TriBand''. TriBand is targeted at homes and small businesses. MTNL began offering fibre-to-the-home (FTTH)

triple play In baseball or softball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three out (baseball), outs during the same play. There have only been 739 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of ju ...

(voice, video, and data) 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 Virtual private network (VPN) is a network architecture for virtually extending a private network (i.e. any computer network which is not the public Internet) across one or multiple other networks which are either untrusted (as they are not c ...

VOIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...

, and

leased line A leased line is a private telecommunications circuit between two or more locations provided according to a commercial contract. It is sometimes also known as a private circuit, and as a data line in the UK. Typically, leased lines are used by ...

s through BSNL and

VSNL Tata Communications Limited (previously known as Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited) is an Indian telecommunications company. It was a government-owned telecommunications service provider before being sold to the Tata Group in 2002 under the Third ...

Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited (MTML)

MTNL has set up a wholly owned subsidiary called Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited (MTML) in

, providing mobile and international long-distance services. MTML is the second operator in

. Necessary licenses were obtained in January 2004. MTML has already started its ILD &

based basic services in Mauritius. In Mauritius, 44,312 telephone connections are operational from a total switching capacity of 50,000. Moreover, through joint ventures with local telecommunications providers, MTML planned to offer Internet access through its wireless network by February 2009.

Merger with BSNL

On 23 October 2019, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

announced a revival package for BSNL and

MTNL Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (abbreviated as MTNL) () is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited. Headquartered in New Delhi, India. MTNL provides services in the metro cities of Mumbai and New Delhi in India and in the i ...

, which includes monetising assets, raising funds, TD-LTE

spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

, voluntary retirement scheme for employees. Apart from the package,

Ministry of Communications A Communications Ministry or Department of Communications is a ministry or other government agency charged with communication. Communications responsibilities include regulating telecommunications, postal services, broadcasting and print media. The ...

decided to merge

with

. Pending this, MTNL will be a subsidiary of BSNL.

Joint Ventures

MTNL-STPI IT Services Limited

MTNL-STPI IT Services Ltd. is a 50:50 joint venture between Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).

Millennium Telecom Limited (MTL)

MTNL has restructured Millennium Telecom Ltd. (MTL) as a joint venture company of MTNL and BSNL with 50% and 50% equity participation, respectively. The company will now be entering into a new business stream of international long-distance operations and will be executing a project of submarine cable system, both east and west of India. In 2016, Rakesh Nangia, Founder and Managing Partner of Nangia & Co and Chairman of Nangia Andersen India was appointed as has been appointed an Independent Director on the Board of MTNL.

Telephone Advisory Committees

Telephone Advisory Committees also known as TAC is an Indian Government body made up of Members of parliament and nominated members by the

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India) The minister of communications () is the head of the Ministry of Communications (India), Ministry of Communications and a senior member of the Union Council of Ministers (India), union council of ministers of the Government of India. The portfo ...

to address issues concerning telecommunication in India. Looked upon as a privileged panel, the Telephone Advisory Committees (TAC), constituted by the

of the

to serve as a vital feedback mechanism for improvement of services in the Telecommunications sector by the

Department of Telecommunications The Department of Telecommunications, abbreviated to DoT, is a department of the Ministry of Communications of the executive branch of the Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union ...

List of TAC Members

References

External links

MTNL Official website
{{authority control Companies based in New Delhi Internet service providers of India Telecommunications companies of India Telecommunications in Mauritius Mobile phone companies of India Indian companies established in 1986 Government-owned companies of India Government-owned telecommunications companies 1986 establishments in Delhi Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange BSNL