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Our Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram , May 17

BHARAT Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will invest approximately Rs 1,270 crore in expanding its telecommunications infrastructure in the State during the current financial year.

Announcing this at a press conference today, Mr K. Sreekantan Nair, Chief General Manager-Kerala Telecom Circle, BSNL, explained that these funds would be used to finance the expansion of the company's landline and cellular networks in the State.

The company plans to invest approximately Rs 500 crore in augmenting its WLL network in Kerala. This includes the addition of 500,000 new lines and the establishment of 900 base transceiver stations across the State, he said. Also on the anvil is a Rs 250-crore investment to add 140,000 wire lines, Mr Nair added.

BSNL also plans to invest Rs 510 crore, in two phases, during the current financial year to expand its cellular telephone network in Kerala. While the first phase of this project will result in the addition of 420,000 new cellular lines, the second phase envisages the addition of 950,000 new cellular lines, said Mr Nair.

Simultaneously, the company plans to add over 1,400 base transceiver stations across the State. Once this project is complete, the company expects its cellular network to cover every part of Kerala, he said. "By the end of this financial year, we hope to provide mobile connections on demand," Mr Nair added.

As part of its efforts to offer more services to customers, the company has introduced a voice mail service. The offering, which is called the `answering machine service', was launched today and will be available to customers free of cost, said Mr Nair. However, customers who want to use this facility will have to make a formal application to the company, he added.

The company has also `soft-launched' a free short messaging service (SMS) on landlines. This facility is available to all customers, but requires a special telephone instrument that facilitates SMS. Though such instruments are available in the market, the company is talking to several telephone instrument manufacturers about the possibility of offering such phones at a discount for BSNL subscribers, Mr Nair said.

The company is also in the process of setting up a call centre to provide the public with information on its services. It is also planning to allow customers to pay cellular phone bills at counters that currently accept only landline bills, he said.

Expansion of the National Internet Backbone to all district headquarters is another project the company plans to implement this year, said Mr Nair. Similarly, it proposes to provide the direct Internet access service (DIAS) in all district headquarters and also has plans to augment its integrated services digital network .

On the revenue front, the Kerala Telecom Circle earned Rs 2,058.23 crore in the last financial year, registering a 36.77 per cent increase on its revenue of Rs 1504.93 crore in 2002-03. The Kerala Circle is now the fourth highest revenue earner for the company, said Mr Nair. Kerala also accounts for 31 per cent of all `India Telecom Cards' sold during the last fiscal, he added.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Kerala

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