BSNL to Launch Mobile Services by September

As the battle in the mobile service provider segment gets fiercer, BSNL is
looking forward to launch its GSM cellular mobile telephone services by the end
of this month. The government-owned behemoth, which has a lock on the landline
phone market thanks to its monopoly position till recently, is all set to make
foray into the Indian cellular market, Prithipal Singh, chairman and managing
director, BSNL said. “We have already invested to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore
in building the GSM network all across the country. Our equipment is in place,
and it has been validated in most parts of the country. Though in some parts we
are still in the process of getting the equipment in place. We expect to launch
the service by end-August or the first week of September,” Singh informed,
after inaugurating BSNL’s customer utility portal, www.bsnl.in. 

Once the cellular service is started by BSNL, it has set for itself an
ambitious target of acquiring 25 lakh subscribers by March next year, including
2.5 lakh in Andhra Pradesh. However, it is very much possible in the light of
the fact that private GSM mobile phone service providers have been able to notch
up a subscriber base of 70 lakh in five years. “We have the technology, the
man-power and the reach, and can begin our GSM service in 1,000 cities, but we
will be launching it in some of the major cities initially. We expect to have 40
lakh subscribers by the end of the second year,” Singh said. BSNL will be the
third cellphone service provider in Andhra Pradesh, offering its services on the
900 Mhz spectrum, the other two being Bharti Mobile and Idea Cellular. The
fourth service provider, Hutch, operates on 1,800 MHz. “All these private
players are offering a lot of new schemes and once we are in the market we will
make sure that to match these offers and evolve our own packages for different
sections of subscribers,” he added. Singh said that BSNL had a
customer-service network of 3,000 offices around the country, to handle the GSM
service. 

BSNL had created the infrastructure to handle six lakh Wireless in Local Loop
subscribers, and this could be ramped up to handle 7.5 lakh subscribers
depending on the demand. BSNL currently has over two lakh subscribers for its
WLL service, which allows limited mobility.  This includes 17,000
subscribers in Andhra Pradesh, according to Surya Sriramulu, chief general
manager of AP-Telecom. The portal developed by Hyderabad based Intelligroup Asia
Pvt. Ltd is designed to facilitate greater interaction between the customer and
BSNL, Singh said. “We have already included the online billing in the portal
and we are having tie ups with UTI and HDFC. However we would like to have our
association with all the banks in order to make sure safe transfer of money
through online payment gateways of various banks,” Singh explained.

(CNS)