BSNL to add 25 mn lines in South by `10

BSNL chief managing director CMD Kuldeep Goyal said on Thursday that the company is in the process of inviting tenders for 93 million new lines. "At our recent board meeting in Gurgaon, the company decided to go ahead with the capacity building programme, and it will be implemented soon. We are planning to provide five million new lines for South India in the next six months," Goyal said.

Goyal spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a function to hand over ISO 9001 : 2000 certification to the BSNL Karnatala Telecom circle. Expressing dissatisfaction with BSNL's business in South India, he said the capacity building programme would help the company augment its business in the southern region.

On the broadband front, BSNL has taken the lead with a 42 per cent marketshare in 2007-08. The company plans to add another three million subscribers in the present year to garner a market share of 50 per cent. "By 2010, we want to have 10 million broadband connections," he said. During fiscal 2007-08, BSNL earned Rs 700 crore through value-added services.

The company is looking at crossing the Rs 2,000-crore mark by 2010. "To achieve this, we propose to introduce managed network services targeting corporates. BSNL will provide the connections and manage the lines," he said.

BSNL Karnataka is the first circle to get ISO 9001 : 2000 certification. T S Kuppuswamy, Chief General Manager, BSNL Karnataka Telecom Circle, said, "This adds greater responsibility to maintain and improve the level of quality of service provided to customers," he said.