Top sources in DoT, while contacted by The Indian Express, confirmed that the department is considering a proposal mooted by the Calcutta-based pager company to take over its Indore and Kochi radio paging operations. But, they said a final decision in this regard is yet to be taken by the department at the highest level. The DoT had already sent in a letter to the Usha Martin's Indore branch evincing keen interest in taking over the radio pager services there a couple of months back. The letter said that the department is interestedin taking over the radio pager business of the company since Usha Martin has decided to wind up its operations at Indore. Usha Martin has wound up its Indore operations six months back following heavy telecom fee and financial crunch.

Following the DoT letter, the company has sent a reply to DoT expressing its willingness to sell off its paging infrastructure at Indore. DoT is actively considering this proposal and will take a final decision soon, sources added.The company, last week, has also submitted a proposal to DoT for taking over its Kochi operations following the management's decision to wind up its loss-making Kerala branch last month. The Ernakulam office of the DoT has accepted the offer letter and sent it to the headquarters for clearance, sources added. The DoT has immense advantage in providing radio paging service by taking over the closed down pager units, sources said.

The department need not have to incur the huge capital investment for taking over the business as it already hasnecessary equipment with it. It has to buy only the Unipage technology from the pager companies as it already has other equipment like transmitters, technical know-how and manpower, sources added. It could also save the government a handsome amount, which it is now paying to the pager companies. The Madhya Pradesh government is shelling out nearly Rs one crore as pager fees every month, sources pointed out.