The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : BSNL showers subscribers with services

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Sunday, May 18, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

BSNL showers subscribers with services

Staff Reporter

Personalised Ring Back Tones service for landline users launched

Up to 2,000 free SMSes a month under student schemes
Offer of personnel computers and laptops with BSNL broadband

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

tuning up: Chief General Manager, Karnataka circle T.S. Kuppuswamy (left) and Principal General Manager, Bangalore, Shubendu Ghosh, at the launch of ‘BSNL Tunes’ at BSNL head office in Bangalore on Saturday.

Bangalore: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Karnataka circle on Saturday, launched Personalised Ring Back Tones (PRBT) service for its landline users in selected exchanges of Bangalore city. Also, BSNL has come out with attractive mobile phone packages offering up to 2,000 free SMSes a month under student schemes.

Announcing various new initiatives of the BSNL, Chief General Manager Telecom, Karnataka circle, T.S. Kuppuswamy, said that initially PRBT service will be available in E5ESS exchanges in Bangalore and will later expand to all exchanges.

For the new service, which will be activated within 24 hours of request, the customers have to pay a monthly charge of Rs. 30 for two songs which will be played in shuffle mode. The download charges for songs are Rs. 12 per premium and Rs. 9 per non-premium songs. Besides, the customers will have to pay Rs. 3.6 a minute while activating the service by dialling 56700.

Free SMSes

Under its new promotional mobile phone offers under the student’s scheme, BSNL is offering 2,000 free SMSes under “supreme student prepaid plan” which can be purchased by paying Rs. 112. The talk time under this scheme will have a 30-day validity and an initial talk value of Rs. 30 at 49 paise a minute within Karnataka.

However, calls to any five selected BSNL mobile phones will be charged at only 30 paise a minute. SMS beyond 2,000 will be charged 10 paise a message.

In another new plan — mega student plan — a prepaid connection will be available at Rs. 249 with call and message features offered as in the supreme plan. However, this scheme will have a validity period of one year.

Mobile connection

Mr. Kuppuswamy said BSNL is aiming at enhancing its mobile phone connections to 25 lakh from the present 17 lakh subscriber base by installing 1,300 base transceiver stations (BTS) in the next two to three months in Karnataka. As many as 321 BTS will be installed in rural and far flung areas where there is no communication facility. This measure will remove certain difficulties related to connectivity being faced by the BSNL mobile users, said Mr. Kuppuswamy.

Broadband package

BSNL, in collaboration with HCL, is offering personnel computers and laptops with BSNL broadband connection under ‘broadband bundled offer’.

Aimed at increasing its broadband connectivity, the new scheme provides outright purchase or hire purchase of PCs and laptops.

The broadband connection under this scheme is offered without any installation, registration or modem charges (as modems are inbuilt in PCs/laptops), said Mr. Kuppuswamy. Broadband connection will be provided at Rs. 199 a month for two years.

The PCs and laptops under this scheme are available at different configurations and priced in the range of Rs. 14 ,580 and Rs. 28,685 (for PCs) and from Rs. 14,985 and Rs. 19,080 (for laptops).

Referring to complaints of delay in attending to complaints in some areas, Mr. Kuppuswamy said that BSNL was facing a staff crunch as its working strength was reducing at 5 per cent each year, with no fresh recruitment being made. Despite many hurdles, Bangalore telecom circle had topped in the growth rate in the country by achieving a growth rate of 4 per cent.

Mr. Shubendu Ghosh, Principal General Manager, BSNL Bangalore circle, said that proposals like offering wheel chairs to permanently disabled employees by utilising the Welfare Fund was on the anvil.

This measure coincides with this year’s theme — connecting people with disability — of World Telecom and Information Society Day, which was observed on May 17.

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