In a major initiative taken by India’s state owned telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), every village of the country will receive public telephone service before the end of 2009. After receiving Department of Telecom’s (DoT’s) in-principle approval, BSNL has started expanding it’s installation operation for the public telephones in over 50000 villages. DoT’s Universal Service Obligation Fund will provide subsidy support for BSNL’s village public telephone scheme.
Under the ongoing Bharat Nirman programme, most of the villages of the country are being provided with the telephony services. Satellite technology has benefited nearly 5,000 remote villages, while about 30,500 villages are connected with the high-speed broadband services. WLL network of BSNL is now available to about 75 percent of the villages. More interestingly, about 11 million villagers in 2,56,000 villages are now enjoying BSNL’s GSM connection.
While BSNL is busy connecting rural folks, India’s another telecom agency Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is working hard to start a new era in India’s telecom industry by introducing 3G mobile services in Delhi on trial basis around the crowded Connaught Place area. The much-hyped service is likely to be test-launched before the end of this month, said a market analyst. If MTNL’s first ever outdoor trial for 3G services becomes a success, Delhi and Mumbai are likely to get 7,50,000 GSM lines each to switch over to 3G services.
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