BSNL launches 3G in 11 cities

State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) today commercially launched its third generation (3G) mobile services simultaneously from 11 cities, namely, Agra, Ambala, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Dehradun, Shimla, Lucknow, Ranchi, Durgapur, Haldia, Patna and soft launch in Jammu.

BSNL also announced tariff plans for 3G mobile services under pre-paid and post-paid voice, video and data plans. The voice call will be available for as low as 10 paise a minute under full value 1,000 plan and local SMS is at Rs10 paise per SMS under Super 1,350 plan.

MTNL to launch 3G in Mumbai by April
State-owned telecom service provider Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) will launch its 3G services in Mumbai by early April, overshooting its earlier intentions of launching services by February-end. MTNL had launched 3G services in the capital in December 2008. According to sources close to the development, the company has completed its beta testing (trial runs) successfully and is ready for the commercial rollout of the services. MTNL is looking at an early April date for the launch.

MTNL has already set up 720 base transceiver stations (BTS) for its 3G rollout in Mumbai circle, and increase of 120 BTSes from the earlier planned 600 towers. The company’s 3G equipment and infrastructure is capable of supporting 7.5 million connections, sources said.

When contacted a top MTNL official confirmed the development.

MTNL expects to get the first-mover advantage as 3G spectrum allocation for private players is not expected at least in the next two-month period. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications are among others planning to launch 3G services in the country, as and when spectrum is auctioned.

The company will provide video telephony, high-speed Internet of 256 KBPS to 2 MBPS on smart-phones and laptops, a range of Value-Added Services like Mobile TV, streaming video-on-demand, gaming and location surveillance among others.