Kerala   

Low tariff scheme helps BSNL arrest surrender

MALAPPURAM: Telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) has succeeded in arresting a spree of surrender of landline connections by introducing special low-tariff annual plans. BSNL General Manager V. Jagadheesan said here that new annual tariff plans for rural and urban areas had checked the increasing surrender of landline connections.

Although 3,000 connections were surrendered till September this year, Mr. Jagadheesan said that the new plans had succeeded in prompting more people to retain their telephones. He said that 56,000 new land phone connections were planned in Malappuram district in the current year, including 18,000 wired connections and 38,000 WLL (Wireless in Local Loop) connections. The district currently had 3,67,336 connections, including 319,117 wired connections and 48,219 WLL connections. Cables extending up to 2,000 km had been allotted to replace overhead cables with underground cables as part of improving the quality of service. Mr. Jagadheesan said that landline connections were being given within five kilometres of the exchange and WLL connections beyond the five-kilometre radius.

He said the waiting list for new phone connections had been reduced to 6,000. “When I took charge in January, the waiting list was 16,872,” he said, adding that efforts were on to bring down the waiting list to zero by the end of the current year. The 94 exchanges in the Malappuram Secondary Switching Area (SSA) had a cumulative capacity of 4,89,245 lines, he said.

Mr. Jagadheesan said that ten more new towers would be commissioned this year to widen the coverage of WLL connections. He said the BSNL’s popular wireless Internet connection called EVDO (evolution data only) would be made available in three more towns in the district. EVDO, with a speed of up to 2.44 mbps, was currently available in Manjeri, Malappuram and Tirur. “With three more towers being set up, this facility will soon be available in Perinthalmanna, Nilambur and Chelari,” he said.

Mr. Jagadheesan said that 58 new mobile towers would be commissioned by the end of December.

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

Stories in this Section

PAP: talks delayed
Arrests: Imams’ council calls for a ‘fair’ probe
The flat world
PAP talks getting delayed
In divine chambers
Sabarimala pilgrimage
Colourful fete
Brothers from the cat family
Usual feuds, but a laugh riot film review
‘Folk literature is democratic’
The lyricist with a poet’s heart
Engagements
‘Vavu Bali’
Low tariff scheme helps BSNL arrest surrender
Cock fight proves fatal
Accident waiting to happen

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu