The Hindu : Landline phone disconnections on the rise

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 14, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Landline phone disconnections on the rise

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, MARCH 13. There has been an increase of around 30 per cent in the disconnection of landline phones of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in Ernakulam since last January. There were about 12,000 disconnections in the Ernakulam area over the last one year. The number of disconnections increased steadily after the new tariff came into effect in May 2003.

In one month, on an average, there used to be 700 disconnections; that has now gone up to about 1,000. According to the company officials, the new tariff structure is such that there is no benefit in the monthly bill when an individual or a corporate has more number of telephones.

Due to the increase in disconnections, there has been no waiting list for landline phones in the urban areas in Ernakulam SSA. But in rural areas, there is a waiting list of 40,000 to 50,000 applicants. The entire State has about five lakh applicants waiting to be connected through landline phones.

The BSNL officials said that the company would be focussing on spreading wireless connectivity to the rural areas. The company would go all out to cover the rural areas with wireless telephones or mobile phones.

The low cost of providing mobile connectivity is the main reason behind the move. According to officials, the cost of one landline connection would be around Rs. 18,000 in the remote areas. As far as mobile connectivity is concerned, the cost per connection would be only around Rs. 5,000 or go up to Rs. 10,000 along with a handset.

The overwhelming response to mobile connections of the BSNL, which has provided over 3.5 lakh connections in the State till now, is seen as another reason for landline phone disconnections. According to BSNL officials, the number of private players who are offering mobile phone connections also has to be taken into account. They are also providing voice connectivity.

Increasing wireless connectivity has had a telling effect on the cable industry too. The number of cable manufacturing units has gone down and the cost gone up. The non-availability of cables is being cited as one of the reasons for the waiting list in the rural sector.

The new tariff structure is most beneficial for the commercial user while individuals have to choose their tariff package according to use.

The varying pulse rate of different packages makes it difficult for the ordinary customer to choose the tariff package judiciously. According to the BSNL officials, commercial users used to pay more as per the old tariff structure, while according to the new package, they enjoy the benefit of being a larger user.

According to BSNL officials, the new tariff structure is beneficial to those who have more than one telephone and make 3,600 calls or more in a month. For individuals, the use of two telephones in the old tariff was beneficial up to 1,000 odd calls in the urban sector; in the rural sector, it helped only those having many telephones.

"The new tariff structure provides a descending unit rate with an increase in the number of calls. In the old structure, there was an increase in the pulse rate with the number of calls going up," BSNL sources said.

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