Power Grid Corporation diversifies into telecom

Nagpur, Oct 17 (UNI) Power Grid Corporation (PGC) cof India Ltd has diversified into the telecom sector and may provide basic telephone services to consumers in the near future, according to Chairman-cum-Managing Director R P Singh.

The company has decided to utilise its huge transmission infrastructure to set up a 20,000 kilometre optic-fibre telecommunication network, Mr Singh said at a press conference here today.

The corporation's network connect Delhi, Chandigarh, Jammu, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and state capitals in the north-east, he said.

Presently, Power Grid is working as a carrier for telecom companies, but has planned to provide basic telephone service in the long-term, Mr Singh said. The company would do this only after its telecom network is stabilised, because it did not want to affect its basic business of carrying electricity.'' He expected the telecom venture to breeak even in four years, earlier than the planned period of six years.

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