After towers and cable networks, BSNL to outsource customer care

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New Delhi: After plans to outsource the management and maintenance of its towers and cable networks, BSNL has now decided to outsource its customer-care requirements to private call centres. The State run telecom operator has already invited bids for setting up and managing its BPO operations that will cover over 17 million customers across four southern states, as per a notification on its website. Following this, the telecom operator will invite bids for the other three zones - North, East and West. The size of the total BPO outsourcing contract for all zones is well over 5,000 crore over a five-year period. Last week, BSNL executives told Economic Times that the company would soon float tenders to outsource management and maintenance of its 50,000 plus towers and over 100,000 kms of optic fibre cable network. This contract, too, is worth over 5,000 crore (over $1 billion). BSNL had decided to outsource the management and maintenance of its towers and cable networks to compete more effectively with private players like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, which dominate the booming industry and also to unlock the value of its assets. However, the company has been facing stiff resistance from the employee unions that fear massive layoffs, if this deal were to go through. For the South Zone, BSNL has said that the bids will be restricted to large BPOs, which have over 3,500 seats domestically or over 6,500 employees globally and have capabilities of setting up standalone centres to cater to the requirements of the PSU. Further, the BSNL notification also said all BPOs bidding for the contract should have experience in running centres with over 500 seats at single destination. In addition, BNSL has introduced several clauses to the contract document that will allow it to penalize the BPO in the event of poor performance. It has also added that it reserves the right to deduct up to 20 percent of the monthly payouts to the successful bidder, if performance levels are below certain pre-defined levels. The bids for the South Zone will be opened on November 11, the notification added.