BSNL to launch 3 new services in Kerala this year

At www.thehindubusinessline.com on Monday, May 18, 2009 by Sankar Radhakrishnan

Thiruvananthapuram, May 17
Public sector telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd plans to launch WiMax, IPTV and 3G mobile services in Kerala this year.

Mr K.S. Srinivasan, Chief General Manager, Kerala Telecom Circle, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), said that all three services are likely to be launched in the next six-seven months. Speaking to Business Line on the sidelines of the launch of the BSNL-Nova netPC in the city, he added that BSNL is currently in the process of finalising some of the technical aspects of all three services.

Field trials
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) field trials are currently being carried out in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi by the Gurgaon-based Smart Digivision, Mr Srinivasan revealed. The response to the trials has so far been quite positive, he said. Besides Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, BSNL plans to launch IPTV services in Kozhikode and Thrissur, he added.

The company also plans to roll-out 3G or third generation mobile phone services in 21 locations in Kerala this year. BSNL expects to launch this service by August or September this year, provided a few technical issues are sorted out, he pointed out. The service will be launched in all district headquarters in the State and in several places of tourist interest.

Its 3G mobile service in Kerala will initially have a capacity of around 2.7 lakh lines making it possible to offer subscribers rich voice-, data- and video services. The service will offer data speeds of 2Mbps.

By October this year, BSNL also plans to launch its WiMax service in the State, which will enable users to access high-speed wireless broadband Internet services, in all district headquarters in Kerala, Mr Srinivasan said. The service will offer minimum access speeds of 512 kbps and can be used with various devices. BSNL, which currently has around 2.36 lakh broadband Internet connections in Kerala, plans to add another 3.7 lakh connections this fiscal. This fiscal, it also plans to provide 1 lakh landline telephone connections, 2.5 lakh WLL telephone connections and 11 lakh mobile phone connections in the State. It is also adding capacity of another 15 lakh mobile phone lines.