BSNL to provide broadband internet connections in 300 HP towns

Shimla, May 16 (UNI) BSNL will provide broadband internet on demand to over 300 towns of Himachal Pradesh during this fiscal in addition to 167 towns of the state where the facility is available as of now, company's Chief General Manager (CGM) Anil Kaushal said today.

Addressing mediapersons here, he said since several snow bound areas were cut off from the rest of the state for four to six months in a year, internet connectivity is one way for the people of the area to keep in touch with the rest of the world.

Mr Kaushal said out of a total of 30,000 broadband connections planned to be provided in the state during this fiscal, the number is likely to increase to 12,000 in the tribal areas alone from the present 3,000 connections.

He said that May 17, which is celebrated as World Telecommunication Day every year, is being observed as World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) this year, marking the foundation of ITU and the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865.

''The aim to observe WTSID tomorrow is to help raise awareness of the possibilities of the use of internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) to bring societies and economies, besides bridge the digital divide,'' Mr Kaushal added.

He said BSNL will also soon launch integrated billing system in the state capital to provide a single bill for all the services availed by the customers, anytime and anywhere bill inquiry and deposition and online self registration for any service.

The service will be extended to other parts of the state in due course, he said.

BSNL has also announced the launch of bundling schemes for mobile handsets and personal computers and laptops under which mobile sets and computers will be made available to the customers at reasonable rates, he said.

He said BSNL has also offered closed user group (CUG) for mediapersons on the analogy of the state government employees and said the scheme could include journalists of the state or Shimla town only.

UNI AS PS AK GC1703