BSNL to invest Rs499cr in Kolkata

Telecom service provider BSNL will invest Rs 499 crore this fiscal for network enhancement in Kolkata.

BSNL will also roll out its 3G services in Kolkata in December this year.

According to S Chakravorti, CGM of Calcutta Telephones, “We will roll out several value-added services like mobile television, once 3G is rolled out. Also, download speed will increase to 300 kbps.”

Currently, download speed is nearly 30-40 kbps for GPRS-enabled handsets, and 130 kbps for edge-enabled handsets on 2G.

Simultaneously, BSNL is investing Rs 499 crore during this fiscal to bring about technological upgradation in Calcutta Telephones network.

To break that up, the company will invest Rs 170 crore for expanding mobile subscriber base and enhacement of network.

The company aims at adding four lakh mobile subscribers and 300 BTS, entailing investment of Rs 110 crore in 2G segment.

By December 2008, the company expects 3G rollout with 575 BTS at an investment of Rs 60 crore.

The company has also lined up Rs 97 crore for CDMA expansion this year.

EVDO with 2 Mbps wireless broadband and 144 BTS will be installed under Calcutta Telephones area during 2008-09.

The company also plans to introduce customer-based billing (CBB) instead of present number-based billing. Calcutta Telephones is acting as nodal centre for the whole eastern region.

The total CDR implementation cost for Calcutta Telephones will be Rs 232 crore.

The company is also targeting 1.21 lakh more customers for broadband connection during the current financial year.

The company today introduced Prepaid Manikjod scheme –’DOSTI’. Earlier this Manikjod scheme was available in post paid segment only. This move is aimed to popularize mobile telephony among the youth.