Wi Max system in villages for telecom connectivity

Kolkata, Nov 16 (UNI) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) would introduce Wi Max system across 25,000 villages of the country by 2010 for telecom connectivity,said Dr S K Chakravarty, Chief General Manager, BSNL, Calcutta Telephones, here today.

Interacting with the members of the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce (MCC), Dr Chakravarty said 40,000 schools in the villages would come under the system which would increase the telecom growth in the rural areas.

'' With over 200 million mobile phone subscribers across the country, mainly in the cities, the operators are now targeting the villages for wireless telephony growth to reach the critical mass there,'' he observed.

Dr Chakravarty said the rural areas were expected to drive the next wave of telecom growth in the country having a potential of adding at least 250 million new subscribers.

As the rural rollout would have a more far reaching impact than the overall reforms in the telecom sector, he said, BSNL was planning to invest Rs 550 crore in the next three years to cover 90 per cent of rural India.

Dr Chakravarty informed that apart from network expansion in the villages, BSNL was giving priority to other matters such as adequate revenue earning per subscriber and avilability of cheap and good mobile handsets.

'' BSNL is also expecting to add 40-45,000 subscribers a month in the next few months by offering value added services to the consumers in terms of lower charges, rental rates and faster and better services,'' he maintained.

UNI