BSNL to pull back from rural areas if government ends ADC

India’s largest fixed line operator BSNL has said it will discontinue expansion of its network into rural parts of the country if the government decided to end the INR20 billion (USD49.7million) subsidy programme currently in place. As it stands all telecoms companies in India are required to pay an Access Deficit Charge (ADC), which is used to fund BSNL’s wireline rollout to rural areas. Of its twelve million lines in service, BSNL estimates some 37% are classed as rural fixed lines.