Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Sep 23, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Sep 23, 2003 |
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Info-Tech
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Telecommunications Piloting ERP package in Gujarat, Kerala — BSNL testing broadband service in Kolkata Sankar Radhakrishnan
Thiruvananthapuram , Sept. 22 AS part of its efforts to improve operational efficiency, telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will soon implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) package. Disclosing this to Business Line, Mr S.D. Saxena, Director -- Finance, BSNL, said the company was in the process of piloting this initiative in Gujarat and Kerala. "The company is also looking into the feasibility of providing direct-to-home broadband services using its existing network," said Mr Saxena. A pilot project is currently on in Kolkata, he added. Similarly, the company is also working on a project to offer its fixed line subscribers short messaging service (SMS), he said. When this scheme, currently being piloted in Kolkata, is fully operational, BSNL's fixed line subscribers will be able to SMS other fixed line users and even mobile users, he explained. While the service will be free to begin with, subscribers will have to invest in an SMS-enabled phone to be able to use this facility, Mr Saxena pointed out. Describing the company's investment in implementing the ERP system as "substantial", Mr Saxena added that this investment would enable the company to be more agile in the extremely dynamic telecom market. BSNL would look at implementing the most cost-effective ERP solution available in the market, he added. As most of the infrastructure required for this venture is already in place, the company expects to be able to achieve a national roll-out in a year's time, he said. The company is focusing on driving growth in the cellular and wireless telephony segments, while ensuring that tariffs are affordable, said Mr Saxena. It expects to add some 2.5 million new cellular phone connections over the next several months and is targeting 20 million cellular connections by 2005, he added.
Despite its emphasis on its cellular phone service, fixed telephones continue to play an important role in the company's strategy, Mr Saxena said. In Kerala, for instance, there is still a huge demand for fixed telephones, he added.
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