BSNL customers to enjoy faster Internet Jan 1

Thursday, 21 December 2006, 18:30 IST
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New Delhi: State-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is all geared up to provide its broadband service at a speed of 2 Mbps (megabit per second) at the existing rate of 250 per month from Jan 1, 2007. This offer will also be available for its existing 825,000 customers who will be automatically upgraded under the existing tariff plan, who are now getting the connection at 256 Kbps (kilobit per second). "We will upgrade the speed to 2 Mbps with effect from Jan 1, 2007. And our existing customers will be upgraded automatically at the current price," said A.K. Sinha, chairman and managing director, BSNL at a press conference here Thursday. "Currently we have a capacity of one million ports which we plan to increase to six million by adding five million ports capacity," Sinha added. The telecom giant launched its broadband service in Jan 14, 2005 and it currently boasts of a market share of 49 percent in this segment. In an effort to take the service to more and more rural areas, BSNL has plans to adopt Wi-Max technology in 1,000 block headquarters by covering an area of about 20-25 km. "Wi-Max is very effective for last mile connectivity and in rural areas it has been a success," Sinha said. The company also plans to provide broadband coverage to the village councils in 2008. Ten thousand exchanges in urban areas and 20,000 in rural would be broadband enabled, a BSNL official said. BSNL is going to launch location-based services in GSM segment, which is also likely to be launched in January 2007.
Source: IANS