The Hindu Business Line : BSNL network in Ernakulam to be expanded

BSNL Ernakulam has chalked out an ambitious plan of providing 80,000 new telephone connections in the secondary switching area (SSA) during this financial year, said Mr S.R. Pillai, Principal General Manager.

Of this, 65,000 connections are planned to be released using Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) technology and 15,000 phones through the cable network, he said at a press meet organised as part of the 5th anniversary of formation of BSNL. The investment envisaged for the development plan in the SSA, comprising the districts of Ernakulam, Idukki and Union Territory of Lakshadweep, is to the tune of Rs100 crore, he said adding, that the division had earned a revenue earning of Rs430 crore last year.

To achieve the mass target, Mr Pillai said that the installation works for WLL towers at about 43 locations is already in advanced stages of completion. With the addition of 43 new towers, the total number of WLL stations becomes 67. The new WLL equipment is also capable of providing value added services such as SMS, VMS, Hi-speed Internet etc, he said.

BSNL Ernakulam is also making infrastructure ready for extending the mobile coverage across the entire districts of Ernakulam and Idukki. The tower works are in progress at about 200 locations in addition to the already existing 152 towers. The new mobile switch is capable of offering MMS, GPRS and EDGE facilities. This would further improve the Internet connectivity on the mobile phones, Mr Pillai said.

Launched in 2002, the cellular mobile services of BSNL had grown extensively to the tune of 8.1 lakh. The share of mobile connections in Ernakulam SSA is about 1.53 lakh amounting to 19 per cent. The waiting list of about 46,000 pre paid registrations would be progressively provided and the prepaid release would be current by December 2005.

He said that the Ernakulam SSA, which is the biggest SSA throughout the State, had grown from 3.28 lakh to 5.3 lakhs in respect of basic telephones. The telephone density has drastically increased from 7.65 to 15.96 including mobile connections. The Internet connections have also increased from a mere 94 to 49,500.

According to Principal General Manager, 30 exchanges now have broadband equipment.

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