As it comes under intense competition from the private telecom companies (telcos), the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has drawn up a plan to enhance its 3G and 4G network by setting up 700 and 600 new towers (Base Transceiver Stations) respectively at an estimated cost of approximately ₹170 crore. This would increase the reach of BSNL mobile customers from the existing 55% to 85%, said BSNL A.P. Circle Chief General Manager K. Damodara Rao.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Mr. Rao said greater emphasis had been laid by the BSNL on servicing its customers to take on private rivals. The tariff war triggered by private telcos with deep pockets was certainly having its impact on the public sector behemoth but its service standards and reach stood it in good stead.
As on date, the BSNL had 66 lakh mobile phone customers (a majority are prepaid) in the State and it was targeted to be expanded by 5%, for which the BSNL had been aggressively marketing its products with an eye on enterprise customers. The BSNL A.P. Circle has 2.50 lakh Broadband and 6.50 lakh landline connections.
The revenue in A.P. and Telangana put together (accounting had not yet been split) was about ₹1,500 crore and apparently, Telangana had the larger share.
Mr. Rao said the BSNL had commissioned 265 Wi-Fi hotspots at 98 locations in the State to improve data availability to the customers with high connection speeds and it was poised to launch multimedia video-conferencing and fixed-mobile convergence.
Asked about the BSNL’s presence in remote areas, Mr. Rao said the BSNL had 53 mobile towers in the hilly, Left Wing Extremism-affected areas in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and the two Godavari districts. Eight more towers were in the process of installation.
Earlier, Mr. Damodara Rao, Principal General Managers John Chrisostom and A.P. Rao and other senior officials released a new landline plan with unlimited local / STD calls to any network and 2.5 GB data for 26 days at just ₹349.
