The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : BSNL set to surpass target of 25 crore mobile telephone connections

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Sunday, Dec 17, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

BSNL set to surpass target of 25 crore mobile telephone connections

Special Correspondent

It has already given 18 crore connections, says Dayanidhi Maran

PROJECT LAUNCH: Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin unveiling a plaque to mark laying of foundation stone for the building of BSNL in Chennai on Saturday. A.K. Sinha, CMD, BSNL, New Delhi, and Union Minister of Communications and Information Te chnology Dayanidhi Maran are also in the picture. — Photo: V.Ganesan

CHENNAI: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) would surpass the all-India target of 25 crore mobile phone connections, set to be achieved by 2007 as it has already given 18 crore connections, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran said here on Saturday.

Presiding over the foundation laying stone ceremony of the BSNL's new administrative building to come up in two years at a cost of Rs. 96 crore, the Minister said he was happy to note that within a short span of four years, the BSNL Tamil Nadu Circle had given 20 lakh connections. He said the focus was now on enhancing coverage of the Internet and bandwidth availability.

M.K. Stalin, Tamil Nadu Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration, unveiled a plaque to mark the foundation stone laying ceremony for the hi-tech nine-storeyed administrative building and launched the commencement of construction work.

The 4 lakh-sqft building in the heart of the city will be equipped with lighting, lifts, water pumping, fire alarm, access control, closed-circuit system. Mr.Stalin also explained how the BSNL provided telephone connections to two tribal villages in the Kodaikanal hill resort within a month.

M. Subramanian, Chennai Mayor, appreciated the efforts of Mr. Maran in lowering the telephone tariff.

K. Sridhara, Member, Technology, Department of Technology, said telecommunications was witnessing a upswing in line with the growth in Information Technology and that the department was gearing its official machinery to expand the bandwidth and Internet availability.

A.K. Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL, said the Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle figured in the top five circles in providing mobile connectivity.

The BSNL was working on a 10-point agenda set by Mr. Maran and the focus was on improving quality, reliability and affordability of a range of telecom services.

A.S. Egayya, Chief General Manager, Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle, M.P. Velusamy, Chief General Manager, Chennai Telephones, spoke.

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