The Hindu Business Line : BSNL targets Rs 38,000-cr turnover in '05-06

Speaking to newspersons after inaugurating an Information & Media Centre at Telephone Bhavan here on Saturday, Mr Sinha said that, along with surrender of fixed line telephones, the revenue from fixed line telephones was falling.

However, this was being made up with revenue from mobile phones, enterprise solutions and inter-operator charges. BSNL currently has a mobile phone customer base of around 14 million. This was expected to go up by another 4-5 million by March 2006.

According to him, BSNL was focused on optimising its mobile phone network across the country. The number of base transmitter stations (BTS) was being augmented. In the Calcutta Telecom District alone, the number of BTS would go up from 200 at present to 900 over time.

On BSNL's broadband initiative, Mr Sinha said that, when the broadband service was launched at the beginning of the year, it was hoped that one million connections would be given by December-end. At the last count, around three lakh connections had been given and BSNL was hopeful that the number of broadband connections would go up to four lakh by month-end. That would be six lakh broadband connections short of target.

Mr Sinha said the shortfall in the target was perhaps because it was taking time for a new concept such as broadband to catch on. He said that going for a broadband connection was a cheaper option for anyone who accessed the Internet for half-an-hour every day on dial-up mode.

He hoped that the demand for broadband connections would pick up when the public was informed of the advantages of broadband connectivity. With the anticipated demand for broadband connections, BSNL would augment its broadband infrastructure capacity to handle three million connections by 2007.

More Stories on : Outlook | Telecommunications

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Ballarpur Ind kicks off modernisation plans — To double capacity of paper production at Bhigwan unit

Dwarikesh raises $12 m thru GDRs

ICWAI award for ONGC, BEL

Birla Corporation Durgapur unit begins commercial production

Gati opens office in Hong Kong

`Hetero Drugs well prepared for Tamiflu'

Wockhardt, US health insurer tie up

Carbon credit prices seen at 7-9 euros a unit

Godrej unveils social initiatives for rural masses — To screen Hanuman in Gujarat, Maharashtra villages

Elder Pharma to focus on `fast moving health goods' — Charting growth plans for healthcare division

BSNL targets Rs 38,000-cr turnover in '05-06

SkodaAuto MD to return to Europe