The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : BSNL to resume issuing broadband connections

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 18, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

BSNL to resume issuing broadband connections

M. Dinesh Varma

Telecom provider to end five-month hiatus with readying of 20,000 ports, stocking of modems

CHENNAI : Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Chennai Telephones will resume issuing broadband connections from Monday, ending a near five-month hiatus when it suspended new subscriptions due to saturated ports.

The BSNL has readied 20,000 ports along with stocks of Customer Premises Equipment (modems) to add up its DataOne clientele from the current level of 1.05 lakh. Apart from immediately clearing the backlog of 6,000 applications for DataOne subscriptions, the newly acquisitioned ports will enable BSNL to provide another 14,000 connections on demand over the next couple of months.

The infrastructure upgrade will be a continuous process, though closely linked to a dynamic assessment of demand. BSNL's broadband network is routed through DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) equipment installed in each of its 333 telephone exchanges in the city. Each equipment serves a radial distance of 3.5 kms. This is besides the broadband connections looped through Digital Loop Carriers (DLCs) that serve as mini-exchanges.

One of BSNL's goals is to net an estimated 2.4 lakh additional broadband subscribers by March 2008.

M. P. Velusamy, chief general manager, Chennai Telephones, said DataOne that enjoyed the reputation of high speed and affordable rates, would evolve into the next level with the advent of `Multiply', a versatile broadband suite of data, voice and video-on-demand.

According to N. Poonguzhali, general manager, BSNL, `Multiply' was being launched across 900 cities in the country. The BSNL also planned to introduce Chennai subscribers to WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), an alternative wireless technology to provide broadband access towards the year-end.

Meanwhile, private telecom service provider Airtel launched a lower priced version of its Lifetime Prepaid card.

The Rs. 495-card offers subscribers full talk time on all future recharges by using a minimum of Rs. 200 every 180-day cycle to enjoy lifetime validity benefits. The products marks the strategic intent to drive affordability and consumption in the prepaid segment further, said Sanjay Kapoor, president Mobile Services, Airtel.

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