BSNL mobile phone in City from April

By G. Pramod Kumar

CHENNAI, MARCH 14. Chennai Telephones' Internet service will commence next week and the much-awaited mobile phone services, from April.

The likely launch date for the Internet service is March 22. The subscribers will have access to a bandwidth of 34 mb to begin with. For mobile operations, the installation of transmitters and other infrastructure has been completed. After installation of software and validation, Chennai Telephones will announce the beginning of the service. Mr. R.N. Srinivasan, Chief General Manager, Chennai Telephones, said he would try to finish the work within the next two months.

Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) would also be introduced in the next financial year. The coverage would be mainly in technically non- feasible areas as it would obviate the need for wiring. The subscribers would be given the option for limited mobility of the handset. However, they would have to pay a deposit for the wireless equipment.

Though the Department's foray into Internet business has been eagerly anticipated, it is a tough market with too many players offering competitive schemes in the field. Out of the 16.5 lakh subscribers in the country, about 2.9 lakhs are in the city.

Mr. Srinivasan said Chennai Telephones was set to cross its targets for total installed capacity and Direct Exchange Lines (DEL). As against a target of 1.32 lakh installed capacity, it had already achieved 1.2 lakh lines. In the case of DEL, the target was 1.32 lakh and it had achieved 1.5 lakh lines. The total installed capacity stood at 10.6 lakhs.

Waiting list

About waiting lists, he said out of the 67 areas (called commercial areas in the telecom parlance), the lists in 53 areas were on-demand. In another two months, the lists in the rest of the areas too would become "current".

By March 31, 23 new exchanges would be added taking the total number of exchanges under Chennai Telephones to 133. Out of this, 31 were main exchanges and the rest Remote Switching Units (RSUs). The number of RSUs was being increased to reduce the last mile (the distance from the subscriber premises to exchange) to about three to four km. This would reduce the chances of fault considerably. Next year, more than 40 RSUs would be set up and more areas in the city and peripheral areas would be covered.

A sizeable portion of the demand for new connections came from technically non-feasible areas, the CGM said. For instance, a number of applications came from slums along the Cooum. At these places, new cables ought to be laid.

Fault rate `less'

Mr. Srinivasan said the fault rate had come down to 12 from 20.8 in 1997. To ensure that the connection is "energised" as soon as cable pair was made available, advice-notes were being issued in advance. The civic activities in the city had considerably contributed to the fault rate.

Opening up of more internal DPS, use of "5-pair cables" without drop-wires to make areas pole free and providing block wiring in multi-storey buildings and replacement of paper core cables and prone subscriber fittings. Digital Loop Carrier (DLC) also would reduce faults. About 200 DLCs (in which optical fibres carry the lines to premises with bulk subscribers) would be installed this year.

About shifts, Mr. Srinivasan said about 2,500 requests were being processed every month. Procedural requirements like verification of signatures and payment details and transfer of accounts to the new zone resulted in some delay in some cases. The procedure had now been streamlined. Revised instructions would improve the situation. Pending shift requests were being monitored at various levels.

With an average billing of Rs. 1,213 per DEL, Chennai Telephones continues to be the highest revenue earner for the Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Residents forum inaugurated
Next     : Need to harvest rain water emphasised