Vsnl Plans Net Subsidiary

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) is working out modalities to launch a subsidiary for Internet services, B K Syngal, chairman & managing director of VSNL, said on Thursday.

VSNL may divest a part of its stake in the subsidiary in favour of foreign companies.Speaking at the inauguration of VSNLs Rs 50 crore satellite earth station at Halisahar, Syngal said, once the company takes off, we may even divest a part of it to foreign companies. Though we are yet to take a final decision, the company may be named Internet Seamless, he added.

He said, he was aware that the clandestine use of voice telephony services by Internet service providers would cut into VSNLs revenues. Transparency in ISP operations was desired and VSNL would not interfere with integration of newer technologies, he said.

State minister for industry & commerce, Bidyut Ganguly, and senior VSNL officials were also present at the inauguration.

Syngal said VSNL had already invested Rs 150 crore in new projects in the eastern region and will invest another Rs 100 crore soon.

Other major projects planned in the region include another Rs 30 crore antenna in Halisahar, a modern gateway centre at Ultadanga in Calcutta, gateway switch and transmission centre, and various infrastructure projects to provide value-added services. Earlier the Union minister of Communications, Beni Prasad Verma, inaugurated the satellite earth station.

The new Halisahar antenna, which has a 18 metre diameter, is an Intelsat standard A (modified) earth station and has the capability to radiate 50x2 Mb carriers, capable of providing capacity to around 6000 voice/data channels besides TV transmission and reception facilities. It will provide connectivity to 32 countries.

This is one of the few antennas in the world and the first one in India capable of providing a composite feed for working in the C and KU Bands.

The new earth station complex, which is housed on a 82-acre plot, is linked to the VSNL facilities at Salt Lake and Ultadanga by 140 MB microwave digital link and six pair optical fibre cable of 140 MB each.

With the commissioning of the station, most eastern India traffic will be handled directly from the Calcutta gateway instead of being routed via the Mumbai gateway.

THIS MAY BE TAKEN AS AN INSET ITEM.

Beni Prasad Verma also inaugurated the gateway digital switch (GDS) in VSNLs new building complex here.

The GDS, installed at a cost of Rs 10 crore, has a capacity of 10,000 international and domestic lines. The switch, which has enhanced capabilities like integrated services digital network and intelligent network, will greatly improve the quality of telecom services in the region.

The minister said DoT will commence implementation of wireless in local loop (WiLL) technology by the year end.