Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

BSNL launches SMS facility on basic phones

Staff Reporter

Three new exchanges; more cell connections on the cards Efforts being taken to avoid subscribers' ordeal of having to go through a number change

COIMBATORE: To mark the World Telecom Day, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Coimbatore, launched Short Messaging Service (SMS) facility on its basic phones here on Tuesday. Talking to reporters, the General Managers, T. Natarajan (Operations), A. Shajahan (Planning and Development), G. Gurusamy (Administration), said the SMS facility came at a monthly rental of Rs. 50 for sending unlimited SMS. The facility could be availed only between BSNL landline phones and cellular phones. The SMS enabled instrument is available at Rs. 2,000 plus with all leading phone dealers as well as at the Customer Service Centres, the officials said.

In order to meet the growing demands, the General Managers said three new telephone exchanges would come up at Pappanaickenpalayam, Ukkadam and Ram Nagar areas. The new exchange at Pappanaickenpalayam will have 4,500-line capacity and another 1,500 to 2,000 line capacity exchange will come up at Ukkadam. Another 10,000 line capacity main and RSU exchange will come up at Ram Nagar. Efforts were being taken to avoid subscribers' ordeal of having to go through a number change but in certain cases, change of numbers are inevitable, the officials said.

In Coimbatore Secondary Switching Area where cables could not be laid, in the first phase 6,000 CDMA lines would be released in eight taluks, he said.

Rural phone

In tune with the theme of the World Telecom Day i.e., `Equal Accessibility for Information for all', the BSNL Coimbatore has provided 56 Village Public Telephones (VPTs) as against the target of 37 for the fiscal 2004-05. But now as part of the "Rural Informative Society Initiative (RISI)", the BSNL was providing an additional phone called the Rural Community Phones (RCP) to make them information centres to provide data and voice (triple play) services even in remote villages.

The BSNL has introduced the Interactive Voice Response System for booking trunk calls.

A subscriber on calling 180 will be prompted by an automatic system to book a trunk call thus eliminating the human element and the resultant complaints of delay.

Shortly the same facility will be brought in for ISD call booking at 186.

For knowing the meter readings to keep track on the usage, the subscribers in a number of Short Distance Charging Areas (SDCAs) like Avanashi, Palladam, Mettuppalayam, Anaimalai and Udumalpet could dial 19622 (toll free number).

The same facility will also be introduced in Pollachi, Valparai, Tirupur and Coimbatore SDCAs as well, he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous | Engagements |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

BSNL launches SMS facility on basic phones
Children now focus on personality development
Power shutdown tomorrow
'Promote contract farming for oilseed cultivation'
Around the City
In Coimbatore Today

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu