BSNL says no dispute with MTNL, ready to lower carriage charge

New Delhi, May 15 (UNI) Government-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd today said there was ''no dispute'' with contemporary MTNL with regard to the carriage of STD traffic, but said it was ready to lower its charge to accomodate MTNL's STD traffic.

''Ideally we would like MTNL to send their traffic through us, but we are willing to negotiate the carriage prices from the 65 paisa at present,'' BSNL CMD A K Sinha told reporters here today.

The decrease in BSNL's carriage charges will entail lower STD call rates between Delhi and Mumbai, which has the largest concentration of traffic.

Mr Sinha, while claiming that there was ''no dispute'' with MTNL, said ''A committee has been formed with representatives from both sides to look into mutual areas of concern. The issue will be resolved soon.'' To a poser as to how much the company would drop its prices, Mr Sinha said, ''I do not want to talk about that now. We will wait and see.'' He, however said, ''Cost of carriage costs in different parts of the country can be variable, just like the traffic in Delhi and Mumbai is different from that in other states.'' UNI RA CS ND1630