Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), a leading state run telecom operator, has announced that it is considering acquiring companies in Africa and Middle East.

While commenting on the proposals, Mr. Kuldeep Goyal, BSNL chairman and managing director stated, “We are looking at developing economies such as Africa and Middle East countries.”

The company is proposing expansion in mobile and broadband sectors in the countries where telecom density is low.

According to the sources, with the aim to fortify its overseas link infrastructure, BSNL has joined a seven-company syndicate for Europe India Gateway (EIG) for an undersea cable Atlantic link in which the company will pump around USD 50 million.

The sources further revealed that the equal share Joint Venture (JV) between BSNL and MTNL-promoted Millennium Telecom will also set two undersea cable links - one for the east and the other for the west.

The east cable will be from India to Singapore and another to Europe.

Currently, BSNL’s total mobile service base stood at 39.17 million till September.