Latest BSNL News

[dwarakesh]

Telecom mela

KATTAPPANA: A two-day telecom mela aimed at creating awareness on the various services provided by BSNL began at the telephone exchange, Adimaly, on Wednesday. Various offers, including free life-time pre-paid connection, Ayush 99, for those purchasing top-up cards worth Rs.100 or above, are available for customers.

[nithyasubramanian]

BSNL launches 3G services in eleven cities across the country

New Delhi, Feb 27: India's No. 4 mobile operator, state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), said on Friday it had launched third-generation (3G) services in 11 cities and planned to expand services to other areas in the country.

BSNL said in a statement it had invested 27 billion rupees ($530 million) on rolling out 3G infrastructure and would cover all district headquarters and important commercial towns.

India will hold an auction of 3G spectrum later this year, but state-run firms have already been given one slot in each service area, and will have to match the highest bid from private operators.

Third-generation services give users a chance to enjoy fast Internet access, games and a host of multimedia content from maps to music on their cellphones.

BSNL provides telecoms services across the country except in the major cities of New Delhi and Mumbai, which are covered by another state-run firm, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

[VelMurugan]

BSNL Landline, WLL, Mobile Phone Offers

After the massive 11-city 3G roll-out in the country, state-owned telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam, Limited (BSNL) is now taking care of its other businesses. Here are a few updates that subscribers should be aware of.

1. Pulse rate from BSNL landline or WLL to any landline or WLL has been increased to 120 seconds. The new pulse rate will be applicable March 1, 2009 onwards. Click here for details.

2. Landline customers with an average monthly bill of minimum Rs. 500 will have the option to avail an additional landline, albeit only for incoming calls facility with zero monthly fixed charges.

3. In Universal Service Obligation (USO) supported rural areas, BSNL landlines can now be availed with zero or Rs. 20 monthly fixed charges.

4. In other news from BSNL, the company has also introduced a new prepaid plan called 'India Golden 50' for its mobile services. Its details can be found here.

Source : TechTree

[dwarakesh]

BSNL Lok Adalat on March 4 and 5

VELLORE: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Vellore will be conducting a Lok Adalat with the coordination of the Vellore District Legal Services Authority on the premises of the latter in Sathuvachari near here on March 4 and 5 from 10 a.m. onwards on both days.

According to a BSNL release, the Lok Adalat is being conducted to realise the telephone//mobile outstanding dues from the defaulters of Vellore and connected areas. The District Legal Services Authority would review the defaulter cases of both landline and mobile in the presence of the Sub-Judge, and enable the defaulters to settle the dues mutually to avoid further legal action in this regard.

The summoned defaulters, defaulters who were served with revenue notices, and others who have got any dispute may avail of this final opportunity to attend the Lok Adalat and settle their cases. The Public Relations Officer, BSNL has requested the defaulters to come prepared for spot payment/settlement.

Source: Hindu

[dwarakesh]

BSNL shuts down cell phone towers along Indo-Nepal border

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has shut down all its cell phone towers along the India-Nepal border in view of security concerns, officials said in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh.

The country's largest public sector cellular service provider switched off more than a dozen of its base transceiver station (BTS) towers in the stretch of about 500-km along Nepal yesterday, disrupting mobile services in the region.

The step is being attributed to increasing activities of Inter Service Intelligence (ISI), smuggling of arms and counterfeit currency and drugs from across the border.

'All the BTS towers of BSNL mobile established in all Nepal bordering districts including Basti, Balrampur, Bahraich, Gorakhpur, Shrawasti, Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj have been jammed,' a top official of telecommunication ministry said on condition of anonymity.

'By taking this step we have tried to chop off a helping hand of those involved in anti-India activities on Indo-Nepal border,' the official added.

BSNL general manager of Basti range SM Aale Raza said that all BTS installed at Barhni and other points at Indo-Nepal border have been removed.

Raza said that the department has taken the step as under the rules it is authorised only to provide signals in Indian territory while the BTS which have been removed were providing full signal in the vast areas of Nepal.

In the meanwhile, the recently introduced 3G mobile services of BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) have come under the home ministry's scanner, with security agencies asking the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to tell PSUs to put monitoring mechanism to intelligence Bureau's satisfaction. However, BSNL refuted any lapse on the network's security.

Source: Itexaminer

[dwarakesh]

BSNL announcement

Coimbatore: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Coimbatore, has announced changes in tariff and pulse rate in respect of inter-circle and intra-circle calls. Intra circle calls for more than 50 km distance from BSNL phone to other fixed and wireless in local loop phones (except 10 digit numbers) will be 120 seconds.

Inter circle calls up to 50 km within BSNL network or other networks will be 120 seconds. For more than 50 km, the new pulse rate for inter circle calls will be 120 seconds. The revised tariff is also applicable for BSNL One India and alternate plans and trunk calls.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL launches ATP facility

MYSORE: Anytime payment of telephone bills of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was launched here on Wednesday with the inauguration of a centre at BSNL's customer service centre on Sayyaji Rao Road here.

SPML Technologies Limited, which provided Any Time Payment (ATP) machine to Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Company (CESC) for payment of electricity bills, has provided the machine to BSNL.

BSNL General Manager S.R. Chandran inaugurated the machine and expressed confidence that the facility would benefit BSNL customers.

BSNL landline, Cellone mobile and broadband subscribers can pay their bills through this facility.

T.S. Guruprasad, Head (Administration), SPML, Bangalore, told The Hindu that the machine had been installed on Build, Own, Operate and Maintain (BOOM) basis.

The machine would work round the clock and was "self-operative". However, an operator would be available at the centre to assist customers. Bills could be paid in cash or by cheque.

The machine would issue receipt on payment of the bill. The machine had an inbuilt sensor which would reject fake notes, he said.

Source: Hindu

[nithyasubramanian]

Govt constitutes GoM to look into 3G issue

New Delhi: The government has constituted a group of ministers to look into pricing and the number of players in the 3G mobile services.

The 10-member GoM, which was notified late last night, comprises External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony, Home Minister P Chidambaram Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Telecom Minister A Raja.

Railways Minister Lalu Yadav, Chemical and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Law and Justice Minister H R Bhardwaj, Minister of State for External Affairs Ananad Sharma and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia are also members of the GoM, official sources said on Thursday.

courtesy : The Financial Express.

[dhilipkumar]

BSNL cuts local and STD rates by 50%

NEW DELHI: State-owned telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) today said it has slashed its local and STD rates by 50 per cent allowing rural users to make calls at 40 paise per minute.

BSNL wireline customers would be able to call anywhere in the country through fixed telephone at Rs 0.40 to Rs 0.60 per minute, BSNL said in a statement.

"Rural customers who are paying 80 paise per minute can now call anywhere in India at 40 paise per minute and customers who are paying Rs 1.20 per minutes can now call anywhere in India at 60 paise per minute.

Moreover, all BSNL wireline customers would be given STD facility without any additional security deposit.

The new tariff had already been implemented throughout the Country from March 1, 2009.

Last year in the month of June, 2008 BSNL had reduced the call rates for intra circles calls to its fixed line network by 50 per cent and accordingly all intra circle calls to BSNL fixed/WLL could be made for duration of 120 second per pulse.

[dwarakesh]

SBI, BSNL tie up for e-payment

CHENNAI: BSNL-Chennai Telephones has joined hands with State Bank of India, Chennai Circle, to facilitate payment of landline bills through SBI Internet portal.

J.Chandrasekaran, Chief General Manager of SBI, launched the facility in the presence of Sujatha Venkateswaran, GM (Finance), Chennai Telephones, and other senior officers from both the organisations recently.

SBI Chennai Circle has got around three lakh internet banking customers at present while of the BSNL's over 10 lakh landline subscribers. SBI is the 17th bank to offer this service.

A pop-up will alert those logging onto the SBI portal showing the list of payments which are due. The customers are also eligible for one per cent discount, subject to a maximum of Rs.1,000.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL notice

Tirupur: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has decided to transfer 1,000 telephone connections from 2244000 to 2244999, presently under Tirupur E10B telephone exchange, to Tirupur Electronic World Switch Digital (EWSD) exchange with effect from March 7.

Official sources said that transfer would take place between midnight (00.00 hrs) and 3 a.m. on the day ( Saturday).

Due to this, telecom services were likely to be interrupted during the said hours.
Password

Customers of the telephone numbers from 2244000 to 2244999 having STD/ISD with 'dynamic locking facility' were requested to re-register their password on Saturday once the transfer was completed.

For details, subscribers could contact BSNL officers either in person or through telephone at 2203200 or 2200000.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL mela to offer services at concessional rates

TIRUNELVELI: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited's Tirunelveli Telecom District will organise a mela here from March 6 to March 8, in which all services, including prepaid and postpaid SIM cards, landline and Wireless in Local Loop, BSNL telephone connections and broadband services will be available at special concessional rates.

At over 50 spots

According to General Manager, BSNL, Tirunelveli Telecom District, V. Raju, the mela is being conducted in more than 50 locations, including BSNL customer service centres, telephone exchanges, cell towers, authorised franchisees - Standard Mobiles, Bharat Communications and many other places situated throughout the city.

While 'Tamil Nadu Anant' lifetime SIM cards, worth Rs.148, will be sold for Rs.49, 'Mega Super' plan SIM cards, worth Rs.248, will be on sale for Rs.99.

Free gift

New landline and WLL telephone connections can be obtained by paying Rs.100. Installation charge of Rs.500 will be totally discounted and deposit of Rs.400 can be paid in four easy instalments. Moreover, a handbag will also be given as a freebie along with every new telephone connection. New broadband connections will be provided immediately to subscribers who apply from any part of the city.

A range of broadband connection plans will be on sale for home and business users, starting from Rs.125, Mr. Raju said.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL Lok Adalat in Ambur tomorrow

It will review defaulter cases of both landline and mobile connections

VELLORE: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited will be conducting a Lok Adalat in coordination with the Taluk Legal Services Authority (TLSA), Ambur, in TLSA premises in Ambur at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

It aims at realising telephone/mobile outstanding dues from defaulters in Ambur and connected areas.

According to a release, the Authority would review defaulter cases of both landline and mobile connections in the presence of the sub-judge and enable the defaulters to settle the dues mutually to avoid legal action. The summoned defaulters, the defaulters who had been served revenue notices and others who had any dispute could avail themselves of this final opportunity to settle their cases.

The landline/mobile defaulters should come prepared for spot settlement, the release said.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL mela

Coimbatore: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is organising mela from March 6 to 15 at various places to enlist new customers. On March 6, the mela will visit areas near Hindusthan College, Palladam Road, PSG College of Technology, Sowripalayam, Uthukuzhi Road, GCT and Sivananda Colony. On March 7, it will visit Palladam four road, Cellandi Amman Mobile, PSG College of Tech., Sowripalayam, Uthukuzhi Road, GCT, SNS College of Tech. and Sivananda Colony. On March 8, it will visit Palladam four road, PSG College of Tech. and Tiruchi Road. On March 9, it will visit Palladam area four road, Vignesh Medical, Tiruchi Road, Park College of Engineering, Dharapuram Road and GN Mills.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL franchisees can collect phone bills

VELLORE: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has authorised its franchisees in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts to collect telephone bills, according to P.T. Mathew, General Manager, BSNL, Vellore Telecom District.

Talking to newspersons here on Friday, Mr. Mathew said that customers of Vellore and Tiruvannamalai could pay the bills at M/s. Sarathy Tele Links, Vellore, M/s. Jayalakshmi Infotech, Katpadi and P.R. Mani Air Fridge and Electronics, Tiruvannamalai. Detailed billing would be sent through e-mail if e-mail ID is given. Customers could have the bill amount by sending SMS as 'bill' and the STD code concerned (without zero) followed by the telephone number (example: bill 4172xxxxxx for a Ranipet number) to 9442131550. Customers could register the fault by sending SMS to 9442131550 as fault 416xxxxxxx. Faults in landline could be booked by dialling 198 from mobile phones as well. On when the facility of online payment of telephone bills would be introduced in Vellore Telecom district, comprising Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts, Mr. Mathew said that negotiations were on with banks to provide the facility for landline customers. The facility was already available for post-paid mobile customers,.

In reply to another question, Mr. Mathew said that the insurance amount of Rs.50,000 each had been settled to 20 claimants so far under the scheme of providing free insurance to landline and mobile subscribers. He said that the free insurance scheme was available by default to all landline and mobile subscribers up to four connections per head, without the need for any application. Under the scheme, a sum of Rs.50,000 is paid to the family of a deceased customer, and a lesser amount for disability caused by accident, he said.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL disbands '95' group dialling

KADAPA: General Manager of BSNL, Kadapa, Y. Sivasankara Reddy, on Friday announced disbanding of '95' group dialling facility from March 6 onwards as the code has been allotted to cellular services.
Locking facility

Customers with '95' dialling facility would be given '0' STD dialling facility with dynamic locking, no security deposit, he said in a statement. Customers can make calls throughout India using '0' dialling facility and all STD calls would be charged 50 paise per minute irrespective of the distance slab, Mr. Sivasankara Reddy said.

Advising customers to use the dynamic locking facility to avoid complaints, he said those who do not require the facility could submit a written requisition to the divisional engineer of nearest customer service centre.

[nithyasubramanian]

STD facility being misused by employees

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The BSNL decision to allow STD facility in all basic phones by withdrawing the 95-group dialling system has become a bane for several employers.

With the introduction of the new system, calls could be made to any place within the country from a local phone, whereas in the 95-system calls could be made only to places within the State. Hence, the new system is being widely misused by employees in various offices to make calls outside the State.

The BSNL is planning to introduce a separate code for making calls within the State in order to sort out this problem.

In the new system, if the subscriber does not want STD facility, a request to cancel the same has to be submitted to the BSNL authorities. But, in such a case, it would not be possible to make calls to other districts within the State.

''We have come across the issue and are looking into its technical aspects. The issue has also been brought to the notice of our headquarters,'' BSNL Kerala Circle chief general manager S.Srinivasan said. ''The technical possibilities of introducing a new code for making calls within the State is also being considered,'' he said.

Over the past few days, the BSNL had received a large number of requests from various Government and private organisations seeking disconnection of the STD facility.

It was as part of a nation-wide decision that the BSNL had withdrawn the 95-dialling system and provided the 0-dialling STD scheme with dynamic locking facility.

courtesy : Express Buzz.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL mela

Coimbatore: BSNL is organising a mela on March 9 at Palladam area Four Road, Vignesh Medical, Coimbatore, Tiruchi Road, Park College of Engineering, Dharapuram Road and GN Mills.

[dwarakesh]

Broadband services being expanded

TIRUCHI: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced that it is expanding its broadband services in Tiruchi Telecom District.

A press release said DSLAM of 960 lines capacity was recently commissioned in Tiruchi Main Guard Gate and Srirangam areas and 120 lines capacity in Keeranur area. Broadband connections were available on demand at the following places: Cantonment, Goldenrock, E. Pudur, Kumaran Nagar, Anna Nagar, Tiruvanaikoil, Tiruverambur, Melakalkandarkottai, Karumandapam, Thillai Nagar, Varaganeri, K.K. Nagar, Samayapuram, Nagamangalam, Navalurkuttapattu, Suriyur and Inampuliyur.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL to withdraw '95' facility

VIZIANAGARAM: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has said that '95' facility will be withdrawn shortly and introduce '0 dialing' in place of '95' for accessing long distance calls. In a press release here, it said the revision in tariff that had come into effect from March 1 was not applicable to PCOs. The tariff is now 50 paise per minute. For new customers the security deposit will be Rs.500 for local plus STD facility, it added.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL customers to get 3G service in July

PUDUCHERRY: The BSNL is all set to launch its 3G service in July.

Deputy General Manager A. Robert J. Ravi told The Hindu that preparations were on to launch the service in July.

"We intend to provide seamless coverage. Plans are on to install more than 50 additional towers and Node-B," a special equipment required to be fixed on the tower for 3G service, Mr. Ravi said.

Besides those in the town and adjacent areas, BSNL customers in Kandamangalam, Kottakuppam, Thirukannur and Bahour would have access to the service, he said. BSNL expected around 10,000 persons to subscribe to the service.

He said 3G enhances services such as multimedia, high-speed mobile broadband, Internet access and video footage on mobile handset. Customers could make video calls, watch live television, access high-speed Internet, receive emails and download music tracks.

Mr. Ravi said the special bundled handset, priced at Rs. 7,000, would be available by July, and the start-up pack would cost Rs. 300, including activation charges.

Once 3G was launched for commercial use, both local and STD video calls could be made, with the tariff of Rs. 2 (local) and Rs. 3 (STD) a minute.

Tariff plans for 3G mobile services would be under both pre-paid and post-paid voice, video and data plans. The voice call would be available at 10 paise a minute under the full value Rs.1,000 plan, with 1,600 free voice calls and 75 free video calls. In other words, the subscriber would have to shell out a fixed amount of Rs. 1,000 a month, and the local calls would cost 10 paise a minute.

Similarly, video calls would cost Re. 1 a minute under the unlimited Rs.2,500 plan and Rs. 2 for STD video calls.

[dwarakesh]

Chennai Telephones to issue first 3G connection by June

CHENNAI: BSNL Chennai Telephones plans to issue India's first 3G connection by June, Chief General Manager M.P. Velusamy said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference to announce Chennai Telephones' first tie-up with Estancia integrated township being developed By L&T Arun Excello Realty at Guduvanchery, he said 25 of the proposed 600 Base Transceiver Stations (BTS), which would beam 3G signals, had been installed.

He said cellular phones would require a separate SIM card (USIM or Universal SIM) to access 3G's exciting combo of high-speed voice, video and data services. While 3G phones would also pick up signals from 2G or 2.5G networks, normal SIM cards of the existing networks would not be able to access the 3G conduit.

At Estancia's Rs.2,500-crore integrated township, Chennai Telephones is setting up a 1,000-line telephone exchange that would offer residents and IT offices 3G, broadband, IPTV, Wi-Fi and WIMAX services.

BSNL will also offer Centrex, which will allow inhabitants to contact in-house security or other utilities free of cost. Centrex, which functions on an Intelligent Network, will also allow users to make outcalls to any destination in India, though the tariff is yet to be worked out.

P. Suresh, managing director, L&T Realty, said the two partners had signed an MoU, under which the builder would ready the exchange and hand it over to BSNL on a long lease.

Project Estancia, progressing on an 82-acre site, features a mixed zone of IT spaces and residential blocks. The self-contained campus will house a Vidya Mandir School, mall, multiplex and club house.

Mr. Velusamy said BSNL was keen on partnering other leading builders for similar projects.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL mela

Coimbatore: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is conducting a super mega mela on March 12 and 13 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Sabari Nest (Nilgiris Nest) on Avanashi Road, Coimbatore and at Pollachi near the telephone exchange.

In the mela, BSNL services like sale of CDMA USB Data cards, GSM data cards, FLPP cards, mobile prepaid and postpaid SIM cards all types of recharge coupons, booster cards, ITC, Call Now cards and bookings for new WLL phone connections, landline connections, broadband connections, new PCOs and reconnection and other service related activities are made available to the customers.

More details could be had from the Marketing Cell at phone number 2437600, 2437402 and 2454545.

Due to administrative reasons, the pay-by-date of PCO bill dated March 3 is extended from March 11 to March 16, another release from BSNL said.

[ganeshbala]

3G service in Chennai

BSNL mobile users in the Chennai telecom district, comprising Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur, can enjoy the much-awaited 3G services in a couple of months with the State-run service provider set to launch the facility in the first week of June.

Speaking at a press conference held for the signing of an MoU between BSNL and  L&T Arun Excello Realty Pvt. Ltd for setting up an exclusive telephone which is expected to come up soon in Vallancherry,  M P Velusamy, Chief General Manager of BSNL, said that  the telecommunications company was installing about 600 Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) for this purpose, out of which 25 had already been erected.

He added that BSNL had also planned to introduce Internet Protocol Television (IPL), where  broadband users can watch satellite channels on their computers
, using a set-top box.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL bags L&T Arun Excello contract to set up telecom infrastructure

L&T Arun Excello announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to set up the telecom infrastructure for the former's upcoming Estancia integrated township near Chennai.

"BSNL will set up an exclusive telephone exchange at Estancia Integrated Township, coming up on 82 acres, comprising a residential zone with 1,900 apartments at GST Road, which is being jointly developed by L&T and Arun Excello," said p Suresh, CMD L&T Arun Excello.

"The services will be provided through a state-of-the-art new telephone exchange installed inside the complex," said BSNL Chennai Telecom District CGM, M P Velusamy.

The deal will involve BSNL providing copper connectivity with 100 percent redundancy to all buildings inside Estancia. The services offered will include voice, data, high speed broadband, centrex facility, mobile services, wi-fi hotspots, MPLS-VPN and Internet lines. Additionally BSNL will offer a deposit free telephone connection with STD facility and a instrument free of cost to the subscribers in the township.

Source: techtree

[dhilipkumar]

BSNL To Erect 19,000 Mobile Towers In Villages

BSNL, our government's telecom Jack-of-all-trades, will now be connecting India like never before. Over two phases, the company will set up 19,000 mobile towers to connect the country's villages. There will be wireless broadband to be had too, with about 5,000 blocks of 10 km each covered by BSNL's infrastructure.

In phase one, 8,000 new mobile towers will be erected--this should be up and running by the end of this year. In phase two, the remaining 11,000 towers will come up, though there's no word on when that's supposed to begin. BSNL will also obtain 93 million new GSM lines for the villages connected by these towers.

Clearly, connecting the country seems to be one of the government's priorities, but there's a catch--all this begins only after new wireless spectra are allocated to service providers. Going by the past record of all telecom legislation, this could take a while. Still, this move is what one would call "a step in the right directon." All that's left is for someone to give the country's villagers relief from drought, famine and suicide. After all, we can't let them miss out on all the mobility now, can we?

[dwarakesh]

BSNL offer

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is offering extra talk value on RCCs recharged during the offer period from March 16 to April 15. Accordingly RCC 1,000 will have a talk value of 1,125, RCC 2,000 of 2,500, RCC 3,000 of 3,750 and RCC 5,000 of 7,500.

[nithyasubramanian]

BSNL to introduce pay revision for employees

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite a decline in its revenue over the past couple of years, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to introduce pay revision across the board.

Owing to stiff competition from the private players in the telecom sector, BSNL had been recording a decline in its revenue over the last couple of years. 

During the last fiscal, BSNL had suffered a decline of Rs 2,000 crore in its revenue.  The figure is likely to go up in the current fiscal.

Amidst this situation, a hike of nearly 50 percent has been effected for BSNL employees, that too with retrospective effect from January 2007.  Highly placed sources in BSNL told 'Express' that the additional amount required in view of the implementation of the new pay scale was yet to be worked out.  Moreover, 40 percent of the arrears will have to be paid during this month.

This payment will also cause huge financial burden to the public sector undertaking at the end of the financial year.

The decision to give huge hike to BSNL employees has raised many an eyebrow.  "BSNL employees may wholeheartedly welcome the hike. But in the long run, it will weaken the financial position of the organisation," said a BSNL official.

Many leading companies are now resorting to cost cut measures such as downsizing and slash in wages owing to the global recession.  BSNL giving huge hike to the employees at this point reflects its unprofessional management.

However, BSNL employees point out that a pay revision is being implemented after a decade. They said that the pay revision could be treated only as a genuine one.

courtesy : Express Buzz.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL mobile cash collection vans

BSNL Visakhapatnam Telecom District arranged for visit of mobile cash collection vans from Tuesday: Anandapuram and Revadi (March 16), INS Kalinaga and Kapuluppada (17) , Lankelapalem and Vadacheepurupalli (18),Chowdawada (19), D.Yarravaraam (20), Lothugedda (21), Ramballi and Achutapuram (23), Srirapuram (24), Y.Gopalapatnam (25), Varahapuram and Cheedikada (26) and Vaddadi (28). A single online cash counter would work at exchanges at NTPC and Nakkapalli on 23 and 24 respectively.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL to expand WLL service in south Orissa

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) aims to provide WLL  services and Village Public Telephones (VPTs) in five places of Ganjam and Gajapati districts in South Orissa.

The five places where these services of BSNL would be introduced include Birikote, Kainpur, Khajuripada, Ramagiri and Golanthara. BSNL had started its WLL services in the Berhampur telecom district in 2008-09.

The telecom major has also proposed to introduce Wi-Max (Wireless Broadband) stations in 14locations of Ganjam and Gajapati districts.

Out of the 14 proposed Wi-Max stations, the equipment has already been alloted in nine locations which include Adava, Mohana, R Udayagiri, Garabandh and Kasinagar in Gajapati district and Digapahandi, Buguda, Jagannath Prasada as well as Polasara in Ganjam district, said BK Nayak, general manager of BSNL's Berhampur telecom district (BTD).

BSNL's mobile connections in the BTD stand at 95,387 (as on February 15, 2009) which include both pre-paid as well as post-paid connections.

The telecom service provider has 54,785 landline connections and 9959 WLL connections in the BTD. Moreover, BTD has 2,970 broadband connections and 3,654 VPTs.

Meanwhile, BSNL has planned to launch the much awaited 3G mobile services in Orissa in this month.

In the first phase, the 3G services would be launched in Bhubaneswar while the second phase of the launch would cover five other telecom districts of BSNL in the state including Berhampur, Balasore, Sambalpur, Cuttack and Rourkela.

"BSNL has already received the equipment and is all set to launch the 3G mobile services. In the Berhampur telecom district, BSNL has targeted to introduce the 3G services in three towns including Berhampur, Chhatrapur and Paralakhemundi, Nayak told Business Standard.

Berhampur has the requisite infrastructure for introduction of the 3G services and optical fibre would be installed in few other areas of the town which are currently devoid of such facilities, he added.

Source: businessstandard

[dwarakesh]

BSNL ties-up with Micromax for sales and distribution of 3G data cards

BSNL and Micromax announced a national level agreement for sales and distribution of the former's newly launched 3G data cards offering mobile broadband over 3G network.

"It's always been a delight to bring in the latest technology products to the Indian customers and through our 10000+ retailers present in India, we promise to reach all 700 cities of India with 3G Data card as soon as the services are available, " commented Vikas Jain, Business Director, Micromax Informatics Limited.

To start with,  data cards will be available in Ambala, Jallandhar, Jaipur, Lucknow, Agra, Patna, Durgapur, Haldia, Dehradun and Shimla.

The data cards will be available in both the HSDPA and the HSUPA variants in the USB format.

Source: telecomtiger

[dwarakesh]

BSNL Customers get IPTV with VCAS

Verimatrix has said that its Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) for Internet Protocol on Television (IPTV) has been deployed to protect IPTV services to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) customers.

IPTV is a system that delivers digital content services to subscribers using the Internet protocol over a broadband connection through closed network infrastructure.

The state-owned telecommunications operator has embarked on a nationwide launch in conjunction with Smart Digivision, and is planning to serve more than three million IPTV subscribers in 93 cities over the next three years.

The subscribers will have access to over 140 television channels and an on-demand movie library at no extra cost.

However, for those who indulge in content re-broadcasting and content copying, Verimatrix's 'VideoMark' will help the operator to trace it.

BSNL had marked the beginning of this year by announcing the launch of its IPTV in three cities of Haryana. Late last month, ACT Television rolled out its first IPTV in Bangalore.

Source: techtree

[dwarakesh]

BSNL mela

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited will conduct a reconnection mela for Ajitsinghnagar exchange customers at Dab Kotla Centre, Ajitsinghnagar, on Wednesday and Thursday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. It includes new connections also. Registrations for new landlines, mobile and broadband connections can be done at this mela. New connections are eligible for a luck draw to win gold coins.

[dhilipkumar]

BSNL to launch BlackBerry services by April

NEW DELHI: State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will launch BlackBerry services by April, a top official said here on Wednesday.

"We have got the required approvals from the government and will launch BlackBerry services by next month," BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

At present, four telecom operators - Reliance Communications, Airtel, Vodafone and Tata Teleservices - are providing BlackBerry services.

BlackBerry phones offer a host of services, including allowing users to access their e-mail on the move.

BlackBerry devices, manufactured by the Canada-based Research In Motion (RIM), had earlier come under scrutiny after Indian security agencies expressed concern that the data being transmitted through the device could not be intercepted due to the high encryption codes being used by the company.

However, Canadian Minister of of Industry Tony Clement, after a meeting with Communications Minister A Raja in February, had said the security concerns over the BlackBerry phones had been "resolved as far as possible".

[dwarakesh]

BSNL, Tata Communications strike deal

CHENNAI: The city's modestly ambitious business class now can get succour to further their plans even with minimal capital, by setting up and managing their own public service helpline.

BSNL and Tata Communications struck a deal on Wednesday to facilitate small and medium entrepreneurs to launch world class public utility helplines with toll-free numbers of their choice that will help the public gain clarifications on services ranging across electricity, water, telephone, ration card, sanitation and public transport, highly placed BSNL sources told The Hindu.

These "BSNL Hosted Contact Centres" (HCCs) aim to facilitate Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs to get into the "Call Center" activity on a turn-key basis wherein all the logistics and technology components are enabled.

All a citizen has to do to is to call a helpline chosen by an SME-managed helpline or send an mail mentioning the grievance to the designated ID. The system then generates a unique number which is provided to the aggrieved party for tracking progress of complaint.

The advantages for small entrepreneurs include lack of heavy up-front investments, advocacy of a pay-as-you-grow tariff model and reduced cost of support and maintenance.

The Tata division's technology components for the project include multi-channel, multi-tenant call routing with common queue, web calls, e-mail, interactive voice response, interaction history, outbound dialling, real-time recording and advanced integration capabilities.

General services will include guidance on employment exchange registration, job offers, various competitive examination results, bed availability at hospitals, road transport, railway and airline timetables.

For people living in rural areas, the helpline will provide information on land records, the schemes for BPL families or inputs on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Assistance scheme.

On the crime front, information would be made available on FIR registration, "Lost and Found" valuables and unidentified dead bodies. Beneficiaries of the social services sector can get instant help on old age pension and ex-gratia schemes.

Farmers can gain by accessing price lists on pesticides and fertilizers or information on crop diseases and updated weather bulletins.

Taxation and filing of returns across various constituents also form part of the repository of utilities.

[dwarakesh]

More talk value

CHENNAI: BSNL on Wednesday launched a limited period offer that provides more talk value for recharge coupons for its pre-paid users.

Up to 25 per cent extra talk value will be offered on recharge and top-up coupons of denominations of Rs.500 and above. The offer is valid till March 23, according to a press release.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL mela

BSNL, Vijayawada, proposes to organise a reconnection/new phone connection mela on Thursday and Saturday at its telephone exchange in Machavaram. The mela will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

On Thursday, subscribers could visit the mela venue at Bose Bomma centre on Sambamurthy Road at Durgapuram and on Saturday, they could visit the venue at Anjaneyaswamy temple near Kothavanthena, Eluru Road.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL, MTNL refuse to halt 3G-based video call services

State-owned PSUs, BSNL and MTNL have refused to stop offering their video call services over 3G network saying that the services are fully compliant from security point of view and the real time monitoring of such services is possible.

The two firms have responded to the DoT notice asking them to stop these services following concerns raised by the government security agencies.

The agencies had pointed out that real time monitoring of calls was not possible and hence these services should be stopped immediately.

MTNL had earlier said that the onus of installing the right equipments to monitor such services laid in the hands of the security agencies.

source: telecomtiger

[dwarakesh]

BSNL, Tata Communications strike deal 

CHENNAI: The city's modestly ambitious business class now can get succour to further their plans even with minimal capital, by setting up and managing their own public service helpline.

BSNL and Tata Communications struck a deal on Wednesday to facilitate small and medium entrepreneurs to launch world class public utility helplines with toll-free numbers of their choice that will help the public gain clarifications on services ranging across electricity, water, telephone, ration card, sanitation and public transport, highly placed BSNL sources told The Hindu.

These "BSNL Hosted Contact Centres" (HCCs) aim to facilitate Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs to get into the "Call Center" activity on a turn-key basis wherein all the logistics and technology components are enabled.

All a citizen has to do to is to call a helpline chosen by an SME-managed helpline or send an mail mentioning the grievance to the designated ID. The system then generates a unique number which is provided to the aggrieved party for tracking progress of complaint.

The advantages for small entrepreneurs include lack of heavy up-front investments, advocacy of a pay-as-you-grow tariff model and reduced cost of support and maintenance.

The Tata division's technology components for the project include multi-channel, multi-tenant call routing with common queue, web calls, e-mail, interactive voice response, interaction history, outbound dialling, real-time recording and advanced integration capabilities.

General services will include guidance on employment exchange registration, job offers, various competitive examination results, bed availability at hospitals, road transport, railway and airline timetables. For people living in rural areas, the helpline will provide information on land records, the schemes for BPL families or inputs on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Assistance scheme.

On the crime front, information would be made available on FIR registration, "Lost and Found" valuables and unidentified dead bodies. Beneficiaries of the social services sector can get instant help on old age pension and ex-gratia schemes. Farmers can gain by accessing price lists on pesticides and fertilizers or information on crop diseases and updated weather bulletins. Taxation and filing of returns across various constituents also form part of the repository of utilities.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL increases broadband coverage

ERODE: State-owned telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has increased broadband coverage in the district, says a release.

Subscribers in areas mentioned below will get connection on-demand and it will be available at a lower price that is applicable for rural areas.

The release says two schemes are available the first, Rural USO-99, in which the monthly rent is Rs. 99 and speed 512 kbps with a free usage of 400 MB and a user fee of 40 paise for every MB therafter; the second, Rural USO-150, in which the monthly rent is Rs. 150 and speed 512 kbps with a free usage of one GB and a user fee of 40 paise for every MB thereafter.

The places where broadband is available are Anjoor (Kodumudi), Kongar Dasanayakanpatti, Pettaikalaipalayam, Kullakalipalayam and Uppar Dam (Dharapuram), Peramium and Vadugapatti (Moolanur), Nanjai Balathozhuvu, Kodumanal and Velliravali (Perundurai), Mangalapatti, Sammandampalayam, Pappini Pachampalayam and Oothiyur (Kangayam), Kasturba Gramam and Vallipurathanpalayam (Erode), Hasanur (Sathyamangalam), Mailambadi (Bhavani) and Malayappapalayam (Gobichettipalayam).

Further details can be had from customer service centre at 0424-2256041 or 2263400.

As part of the festive season, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. has increased talk time on pre-paid and top-up cards.

A release says the scheme, in effect from March 16 to 22, is as follows: the talk value on recharge coupon worth Rs. 552 has been increased to Rs. 625 from the current Rs. 500. Similarly, the new talk value on Rs. 1,103 coupon is worth Rs. 1,125 as against the present value of Rs. 900.

Coupon worth Rs. 2,206 will now carry talk value worth Rs. 2,500 from the present value of Rs. 2,400, the release says.

Talk time worth Rs. 3,125 is available on recharge coupon worth Rs. 2,758, the release says and adds that the present talk value is Rs. 2,500.

Recharge coupon worth Rs. 3,309 carries a new talk time worth Rs. 3,750, an increase of Rs. 750 from the present Rs. 3,000.

Finally, BSNL offers talk value worth Rs. 7,504 on recharge coupon valued at Rs. 5,515, which usually carries a talk value of Rs. 6,700, the release says.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL service

Tirupur: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has decided to transfer a set of 1,000 telephone connections from 2242000 to 2242999, presently working in Tirupur E10B telephone exchange to Tirupur EWSD exchange, on March 22, due to technical reasons.

The transfer would take place between midnight and 3 a.m. on the said date.

Owing to this, telecom services were likely to be interrupted for the duration.

BSNL announcement

Tirupur: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has decided to transfer 1,000 telephone connections from 2242000 to 2242999, presently working in Tirupur E10B telephone exchange to Tirupur EWSD exchange, on March 22.

BSNL officials said that the transfer would take place between midnight and 3 a.m. on the said date. The holders of the numbers from 2242000 to 2242999 having STD/ISD with 'dynamic locking facility' should re-register their password once the transition process was completed.

[VelMurugan]

BSNL, MTNL to Continue Offering 3G Services

People in 3G services equipped cities in India need not worry about the services temporarily shutting down.

The two state-owned telecom service providers, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL), have said that their 3G services are fully compliant from a security point of view and real-time monitoring of such services is possible, reports Telecom Tiger.

Last week, there was news about the possibility of forfeiture of the authority to provide 3G services, launched by the 2 companies, as per a notice from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

DoT had asked the two state-owned telecom service providers, MTNL and BSNL, to stop 3G services until there's a strong infrastructure built to be able to track the devices that support 3G services.

While BSNL and MTNL can present a report of their security norms to the security agencies, the question of halting 3G service should not arise.

Source : TechTree

[dwarakesh]

BSNL starts ring-back tone services on landlines

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) today launched the Personalised Ring Back Tone (PRBT) services on landline telephones for customers in Hyderabad.

This facility is likely be extended to about 2.65 lakh customers in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad on a fixed monthly subscription of Rs 25, T N Sudhindra Kumar, Chief General Manager, BSNL told media persons.

Kumar said that BSNL plans to spent Rs 500 crores this year for providing more and more mobile phone services in the society and various number of Cellular Base Stations (Mobile Towers) are being constucted at many locations to improve the quality of service.

Referring to reports that mobile signals radiated by the cell towers affect the health of general public, he said, "there has no authentic report so far".

"The Radio frequency emissions from mobile phones and base stations are some 50,000 times lower than the levels at which the first health affects begin to be established. The mobile hand set radiates only 02 to 0.6 watts of power, which is lower than the power radiated by Microwave, Radio transmitter and TV transmitter," Kumar said.

"The International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has fixed radiation standards based on several decades extensive RF Research results across the world, which has been endorsed by World Health Oranization (WHO).

"These standards are adopted by most of the contries across the Globe including India. The recommendations of ICNIRP ensures and confirms that there is no substantive or convincing evidence of biological effects that could harm the persons's health for all segments of population," the CGM said.

"The Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which is a regulatory body, have also declared that there is no definite conclusive evidence that the public health is affected by radiation emitted by Mobile Phone and Base Station," Kumar said.

The PRBT service on landline is at present for EWSD and & 5ESS Exchanges and shortly would be launched in other 12 SSAs where EWSD and 5ESS switches are available, he added.

source: businessstandard

[dwarakesh]

BSNL launches trial run for billing software

CHENNAI: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has launched dry runs for switching over to a nationally integrated call detail record (CDR) billing software program that is tipped to replace its existing meter-based billing system for landlines by August.

Chennai Telephones is among the Secondary Switching Area (SSAs) in the country where the software solution developed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is being tested for potential glitches, according to top BSNL sources.

It is learnt that while the solution provider was confident and keen on going live with the new system, BSNL's top brass would rather take the test-bed option across high-density SSAs before making the switch.

There is a valid reason for BSNL's apprehension on the new system as it embarks on what is probably the biggest billing reform undertaken in recent times. Officials point out that the State-run service provider needs to be comfortable about the new program's reliability and resilience to handle the entire billing processes involving an estimated 28 lakh working connections in Tamil Nadu Circle and the 10 lakh landlines under Chennai Telephones.

In fact, the whole idea of ringing in a state-of-the-art integrated process is the elimination of billing-related complaints and BSNL dreads starting out on the wrong note, sources said.

"We need to ensure that the program is completely error-free before taking the new system to subscribers as the very purpose of the exercise is to bring in a more transparent and complaint-free billing system," a senior BSNL official told The Hindu.

During the pilot phase, BSNL network will concurrently generate meter-based and CDR-based bills for landlines. These would be randomly cross-matched for accuracy, a top official said.

Once the new system is put in place, the billing of several million BSNL subscribers in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will migrate to the server hub in Hyderabad. In fact, BSNL also proposes to install an advanced server in Pune as a back-up for the principal server and serve as disaster recovery system.

BSNL's rationale for the reform is that an integrated and intranet-like CDR-based billing will help to reduce operational cost, increase revenue realisation, plug revenue leakage and minimise fraud.

BSNL also hopes that the new program would eliminate complaints about excess billing, both from customers as well as other telecom operators who shell out Inter Connection Usage fees for utilising its network.

Apart from billing system improvements, TCS's contract with BSNL involves setting up complex data networks featuring operational support systems and business support platforms such as Customer Relationship Management and directory enquiry.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL launches musical tunes for landline phones too

HYDERABAD: It is not mobile users alone, even BSNL landline subscribers can now choose melodious tunes instead of the standard ring back tone.

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. launched Personalised Ring Back Tone (PRBT) for its landline customers and the facility will available for 2.56 lakh customers in Hyderabad Telecom District and it would be extended to other exchanges soon, said Mr. T. N. Sudhindra Kumar, Chief General Manager, AP Telecom Circle, Hyderabad here on Saturday. The PRBT services to subscribers would be free till April 30.

On the expansion of 25 and 3G technology to offer greater and faster data transmission in mobile environment Rs. 700 crore was being invested on these technologies, he added.

The BSNL AP circle planned to set up 2,400 cell towers this year to boost signal strength as against 1,800 last year.

In this context, Mr. Kumar allayed misconceptions that the radio frequency emissions form cell towers and mobile phones were hazardous to public health.

He said besides WHO, International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India also stated that mobile towers and phones were not harmful for public health.

The BSNL introduced 'Call free to home plan' for new landline connections which were also given a general prepaid SIM with free validity.

One could call from the given SIM to the landline number free.

[VelMurugan]

BlackBerry Goes 3G with BSNL

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and Research In Motion (RIM) have launched the BlackBerry solution for enterprise and individual BlackBerry customers. This service has been made available to the people of Chandigarh for now.

The BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8310, and BlackBerry 8700g will be the first BlackBerry smartphones to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks. Users will finally be able to explore 3G capabilities of these smartphones.

The earlier plan was to launch BSNL-BlackBerry services in April.

3G services are likely to be launched in Bhatinda today, while in Pathankot and Kapurthala by 31st March 2009. IPTV service has also been launched in Chandiagrh and Jalandhar city. IPTV is going to be launched in Ludhiana and Patiala in April.

Source : TechTree

[dwarakesh]

Now Get Videophone Service on BSNL Network

Info Systems (SIS) has partnered with BSNL to offer videophone service. To be launched in phased manner throughout the northern and western India, BSNL is marketing it as VAS preposition to its broadband consumer base. The service will be available through both - wireless and wireline mediums - and will be facilitated by switching technology through IP networks.

Sunil Kakkad, CMD, SIS, said, "This service will facilitate multimedia and high quality DVD, as well as specialized applications that include telemedicine, e-education and video surveillance. Now, the patients in rural region can access service, and hence, the geographical distance becomes zero."

"We are looking forward to make video communication affordable, so that it could penetrate larger consumer domain. This service would help corporate bosses to keep office communication live though a video call. This service integrates communication modes through single IP network for Next Generation Network (NGN). This service would serve businesses and corporate as well as government's initiatives for rural India," Kakkad added.

source: techtree

[dwarakesh]

BSNL offer

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited general manager has announced that on the eve of Ugadi, new telephone connections will be provided on an initial deposit of Rs. 100 only from March 25 to 31. The balance deposit will be collected in four instalments.

For the convenience of users, the customer service centre at Chuttugunta will function on Ugadi day also.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL plea to Railways

CHENNAI: BSNL Chennai Telephones on Wednesday submitted a formal request to Southern Railway seeking measures for immediate restoration of public utility coin-vending booths, which were recently removed from the Chennai Central Railway Station premises .

The 17 coin-vending machines, including six high-tech imported versions, were dismantled and confiscated by the Railways on Friday on the grounds that the BSNL had failed to follow norms for installing or enhancing infrastructure . The BSNL request follows a meeting its representatives had with Railway officials on Wednesday. BSNL sources said they had sought immediate restoration of the confiscated equipment to avoid inconvenience to public as they were willing to consider the commercial obligations of renting out space on the station.

[dwarakesh]

BSNL, Hungama tie-up launch digital on-demand musical store

BSNL and Hungama Digital Media announced joint offering of what they claim is India's first on-Demand Digital Entertainment Music Store and Gaming services available to broadband subscribers of BSNL.

The concept to be available on accessing bsnl.hungama.com will have a more than 50,000 songs, 1000 videos and will offer popular music, videos and games. 500 games will also be on offer. The services will be available on rental subscription basis entitling unlimited music download for Rs 149 per month and unlimited games for Rs 49 per month.

Neeraj Roy, Managing Director & CEO, Hungama Digital Media said, "We are very excited about our partnership with India's number one broadband service provider BSNL, to launch the country's first On Demand Entertainment store.  With this digital store, all BSNL customers will have exclusive access to download their favourite songs and music videos digitally, as well as download and play games.  These unique services on the digital store are available at extremely competitive price points of Unlimited Music Downloads for Rs. 149 per month and Unlimited Game Downloads for Rs. 49 per month. The price points demonstrate the value and convenience that we are bringing to the BSNL customer, coupled with the interactive features that will provide an enriched experience to the user."

The alliance has also set up a call centre to address to the subscriber issues.

source: telecomtiger