The Hindu : Excel connections awaiting BSNL capacity augmentation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2003

Business

Business

Excel connections awaiting BSNL capacity augmentation

By Our Staff Reporter

Coimbatore Nov. 11. Even as the demand for its cellphone is increasing, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam is its pinning hopes on the ongoing expansion work for releasing new connections under the prepaid segment `Excel'. According to sources in the BSNL, it is already working on a plan to add 1.7 lakh connections at its existing switches (exchanges) in Tiruchi and Salem. By virtue of its extensive network, the BSNL gained enormous market response and in a short period exhausted its existing capacity of 3.4-lakh connections.

Despite entering the market as the last licensee and fourth player, by virtue of its competitive tariff, waiver of entry fee (for existing basic phone users) and extensive network, its entire capacity was exhausted at short notice. Immediately after the launch, the BSNL faced a crisis in meeting the demand owing to SIM card shortage. This was immediately followed by a network congestion, thanks to the ``overwhelming'' response.

Only recently, all these issues were sorted out and postpaid services under the brand name `CellOne' and prepaid services, `Excel', started making inroads in the market in a bigger way.

Even as its market share started progressing steadily, the BSNL encountered the problem of exhausted capacity. With very little capacity left for providing SIM cards to new subscribers, the BSNL was rationing the available ones in every district. Even the limited number of connections were being released only for `CellOne'. Depending on surrendered and disconnected numbers across the State, every telecom district was being provided with a few numbers. However, not a single `Excel' connection was being released. In cellular telephony, the prepaid segment constituted 60 per cent of the market share and the postpaid segment, only 40 per cent. This was the case even with the private operators.

The BSNL hoped that the capacity augmentation would be completed at least by mid-December and release of new connections would begin by January next.

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