The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Public phone booths to try out eSeva concept

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 18, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Public phone booths to try out eSeva concept

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD: The neighbourhood public telephone booth, on the verge of decline thanks to the surge in mobile phone usage, is in for a sea change. It will no longer be a mere tool for communication used by a few, but walking down the block one could pay utility bills, purchase rail and air tickets and even pay the insurance premium there henceforth.

The lines are clear for this change with the launch of the PCONET franchise network business in the city by the Mumbai-based PCONET Limited that turns the neighbourhood public telephone booth into a multi service delivery entity. To begin with, 50 booths in the twin cities and 1,150 in the State, comprising of both Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and private company booths, will offer the services.

"This is nothing but an extension of the eSeva concept available in the State and we will offer about 40 services, including credit card payments and mobile phone card recharging," the company chairman Anurag Gupta told presspersons here on Sunday. There are 14,000 BSNL booths and 3,000 private booths in the city. The corresponding figure for the State is 80,000 and 25,000. "With the usage and relevance of phone booths on the wane owing to increased use of cellular telephones, our businesses have taken a beating in the last four years and this is the best way to stay afloat," the All India Sanchar Seva PCO Society president, G. Satyanarayana Reddy said.

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