State-run MTNL has decided to give its existing 46 lakh mobile users the option of migrating to high-speed 3G services in a bid to have a head-start over the private players, which have won licences for the same.

"We have 46 lakh mobile subscribers (2G) in Delhi and Mumbai, and we have 4 lakh 3G users. We want to enable the users to migrate to 3G services, and expect most of them to do so. By the end of June, we will be offering them the option to use 3G services," MTNL chairman and managing director Kuldip Singh told PTI.

Singh, however, clarified that through this, the subscribers would only be given the option of migrating to the new service, not turn them into 3G customers.

The most coveted circles of Delhi and Mumbai, where MTNL operates, went to the top three telecom operators -- Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Reliance Communications -- in the recently concluded 3G spectrum auction.

Once these players start offering 3G services, there is bound to be cut-throat competition in these circles. The PSU, in the interim period, wants to attract as many subscribers to its stable before the competitors strike.

The state-run BSNL and MTNL, which were issued airwaves for 3G services earlier, will have to pay the government spectrum fees based on the winner's price for the respective circles. Accordingly, MTNL will have to shell out Rs 6,564 crore for Delhi and Mumbai.