BSNL draws up Rs 1,167 crore Kerala spread plan  ( October '3,2003, Business-Standard)

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has drawn up aggressive expansion plans in the Kerala telecom circle for the current financial year at an envisaged capital investment of Rs 1,167 crore, according to chief general manager S L Winston.

Emphasising that at present BSNL was the number one cellular service operator in Kerala with a customer base of more than three lakh, Winston said the corporation had planned to provide another three lakh mobile connections in the state before March 31, 2004. In addition to this, the corporation would also give 2.85 lakh phone connections using the wireless in local loop (WLL) technology.

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Already the number one cellular player in Kerala, BSNL will add 3 lakh new mobile connections by March 2004. As for landline, it targets to sanction 2.95 lakh new connections.

Using WLL technology, the Nigam will provide 2.85 lakh phone connections this fiscal.

DIAS will be extended to cities like Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam & Kozhikode.

Grameen Sanchar Sevak Scheme, in coordination with the postal dept, already operational in 48 villages.


The Nigam would also sanction 2.95 lakh new landline connections during this fiscal. Of these, 2.45 lakh connections would be in the rural areas and 50,000 connections would be in the urban areas. Thus BSNL hopes to clear the entire waiting list for phone connections in Kerala by March 2004, he added.
Other plans on the anvil include introducing the Direct Internet Access System(DIAS), which enables simultaneous use of the Internet and the telephone facility, in Thiruvanathapuram, Thrissur, Kollam and Kozhikode.

Currently, the DIAS facility is available only in Ernakulam district. This system would be introduced in the above four districts with 120 lines in each center by the end of this month, Winston pointed out. Kerala is one of the two states selected for the implementation of the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning Scheme) as a pilot project, he added.

Announcing the other programmes, the BSNL chief general manager said that the Grameen Sanchar Sevak Scheme in coordination with the Postal Department had already been introduced in 48 villages. The same would now be extended to many more villages very soon.

For the first time, BSNL is going to introduce all over the country a new low rental scheme, which entails provision of fixed line phones at monthly rentals of Rs 99 for rural areas and Rs 160 for urban areas.

This service, which would go operational on October 6, would provide only incoming call facility.

Outgoing calls can be made from these phones using the India Telephone cards. The existing subscribers would also be allowed to convert their phone lines to this scheme, Winston added.