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Independence Day to ring in mobile phones for Kashmir
Monday, 04 August 2003, 19:30 IST
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir will soon get a much awaited mobile phone service.
Senior officials of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) told IANS here that the decks finally appear to be clear for the ambitious project on which the telecom major has spent 
17 million.
"Finally, Kashmir will have its mobile phone service, probably by the middle of this month, coinciding with India's Independence Day (August 15)," said George Santosh Marshal, the BSNL general manager here.
"We will shortly issue application forms to the public. There would be specific BSNL counters for issuance of the forms so that there is no chance of misuse of forms. To begin with we intend to provide 11,000 mobile connections in Srinagar city.
"After the first phase, another 20,000 connections would be released," he said.
Mobile phone services in strife-torn Kashmir have long been up, with the Indian home and defence ministries objecting to the BSNL project for security seasons. Kashmir has been battling a violent insurgency since 1989.
"Ostensibly, they had their fears. You see a mobile phone is such a convenient communication facility that anybody can use it. My information is that the defence ministry has cleared the project subject to the condition that the monitoring is handed over to the army," Marshal said.
He also said the same BSNL charges that prevail in the rest of the country would be applied to Kashmir.
The BSNL general manager said equipment for monitoring and surveillance on select lines would have to be imported.
Latest U.S. made Ericsson phone exchanges, towers and other equipments are already in place throughout Srinagar and sources in BSNL here said the service was working within the telecom department where senior officials have been provided mobile phones.
Source: IANS
17 million.
"Finally, Kashmir will have its mobile phone service, probably by the middle of this month, coinciding with India's Independence Day (August 15)," said George Santosh Marshal, the BSNL general manager here.
"We will shortly issue application forms to the public. There would be specific BSNL counters for issuance of the forms so that there is no chance of misuse of forms. To begin with we intend to provide 11,000 mobile connections in Srinagar city.
"After the first phase, another 20,000 connections would be released," he said.
Mobile phone services in strife-torn Kashmir have long been up, with the Indian home and defence ministries objecting to the BSNL project for security seasons. Kashmir has been battling a violent insurgency since 1989.
"Ostensibly, they had their fears. You see a mobile phone is such a convenient communication facility that anybody can use it. My information is that the defence ministry has cleared the project subject to the condition that the monitoring is handed over to the army," Marshal said.
He also said the same BSNL charges that prevail in the rest of the country would be applied to Kashmir.
The BSNL general manager said equipment for monitoring and surveillance on select lines would have to be imported.
Latest U.S. made Ericsson phone exchanges, towers and other equipments are already in place throughout Srinagar and sources in BSNL here said the service was working within the telecom department where senior officials have been provided mobile phones.
Source: IANS