Public sector telecom service provider Mahanagar Telecom Nigam (MTNL) has received International Long Distance (ILD) licence from the department of telecom (DoT) on Wednesday.

The license will enable MTNL to route international long distance (ILD) traffic via its own network rather than depending upon other service providers like Tata Communications (formerly Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd).

The recent move is likely to lower International Subscriber Dialling (ISD) rates for MTNL subscribers.
   
At present, MTNL’s ISD calls from mobile phone to Europe, Gulf, United States, and Africa ranges between Rs. 6.40 to 9.20 per minute, whereas landline rates are charged Rs 5.99 per minute to the US on an average.

When MTNL channels its own ILD traffic, its costs would fall significantly. The key players in the ISD zone including the state run BSNL, Bharti, and Reliance, will have to face more competition.

MTNL is pursuing an undersea cable project to carry its own ISD traffic. The cable enables MTNL to link India to Singapore and Malaysia and would be used primarily for carrying voice and data traffic from India to these countries.

Moreover, it would also enable telecom companies from these countries to take their traffic to other nations. BSNL has withdrawn from the project to link India to Singapore and Malaysia.

Shares of the company, on Thursday (June 19) marked its closure at Rs 97, up 1.6%, on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).