Date:14/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/14/stories/2008101459651400.htm

National

3G services in Chennai by January, says Raja

Special Correspondent

MTNL will roll out the service by December

NEW DELHI: Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja said on Monday that the government-owned telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) would soon launch the 3G (Third Generation) telecom services in the Chennai circle and some North-Eastern States.

“BSNL is all set to launch 3G services in Chennai and North-East by January 2009,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the South Asian Telecommunication Regulators’ Council (SATRC) meeting here.

“The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), having operations in Delhi and Mumbai, will roll out 3G services in the two metros by December.”

While announcing the 3G policy, the Minister had allotted one block of spectrum each to BSNL and MTNL.

The auction of 3G spectrum for private operators was still to be conducted.

Challenges

Addressing the SATRC meet, Mr. Raja called for a cohesive domestic and international policy to deal with the security challenges posed by the Next Generation Networks (NGN).

Demanding development and enforcement of common operational rules among interconnecting networks, Mr. Raja described the convergence of various networks into Next Generation Networks as a challenge to policy makers and regulators.