BSNL to provide broadband service in 50 UP districts

Lucknow, May 17 (UNI) Public sector telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will provide broadband service to all the 50 districts in East Uttar Pradesh in the current fiscal.

Addressing a news conference here today, UP (East) Circle chief general manager (Telecom) Surendra Singh said till now the broadband service was only available in nine districts.

''Last year, we had achieved our target of adding 20,000 new internet subscribers,'' he added.

This fiscal, the Nigam aims at adding between 25,000-30,000 new broadband connections in the circle.

Commenting on the high growith mobile phone segment, Mr Singh said BSNL was committed to providing the service in the remote areas. To enhance the quality of our service, the Nigam would set up 850 new Base Transmission Stations (BTSs),'' he informed.

The BSNL official informed that henceforth no charge would be levied for starting the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) utility on mobile phones.

Meanwhile, the Nigam will also strengthen its Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) service.

''Taking into account the interest towards WLL, especially in rural areas, the service is being upgraded with latest technology,'' Mr Singh assured.

WLL service has a subscriber base of about 13 lakh and 27,000 in rural and urban areas respectively.

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