State owned MTNL had plans to span its wings all across India for which it had submitted a proposal to the DoT. However, the Telecom body turned down this proposal. MTNL has its operations in Mumbai and Delhi and BSNL, the other state owned telco has its foothold all across India except these two circles. The ministry would not like to see two state run players fighting it out in the same circle, which is why the decision could have been taken.
However, ailing MTNL says that the decision will not affect its business much. This might not be the case as Mumbai and Delhi are among the most saturated circles. The operator says that it would like to further strengthen its foothold in the two markets.