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Our Bureau

Hyderabad , Jan. 28

THE State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, AP Telecom circle, plans to add about half-a-million new lines through CDMA (code division multiple access) based WLL (wireless in local loop) phones and one million GSM lines by next fiscal end.

The Chief General Manager of BSNL, AP Circle, Mr Sanjaya Kumar, said that the State has witnessed rapid growth and it has become the telecom operator with the largest cellular base of over 5.3 lakh GSM phone connections. The one million additional lines for the State will be part of the country-wide expansion of BSNL's GSM network for the next financial year.

The circle plans to add about 10 lakh connections next year, which would include expansion to 302 new cities in the State, 52 highway routes and 17 railway lines. While five lakh connections would be in the district headquarters, 2.5 lakh would be in strengthening the network of the existing cities and another 2.5 lakh would be in new cities.

Alongside the expansion of the GSM network, BSNL was in the process of creating the infrastructure for about 5 lakh CDMA WLL phones across the circle, which will help expand both the CDMA wireless phones service as also reach out to remote areas where landline services were not available. This will help BSNL meet the demand for telephone services in the rural areas of the State, Mr Kumar said.

While the State witnessed a de-growth in the landline connections, the cellular base is rapidly growing. With regard to pre-paid cards, there was some shortage lately. This has been sorted out and by next month they will be available across retail outlets in the State, he said.

BSNL has bagged a project to provide 3,000 mobile phone connections to the State Police Department where per user the service is offered for Rs 300 a month. These users will also have access to a virtual private network and could make free calls within the department users.

The Director of Finance, BSNL, Mr S.D. Saxena, said that the Phase II of National Infrastructure Backbone to be taken up with an outlay of Rs 2,500 crore will be able to provide a wide range of services including broadband.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Andhra Pradesh

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