BSNL to invest Rs 40cr in Vizag

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will invest over Rs 40 crore in increasing the number of cellular towers in the Visakhapatnam telecom district during the next financial year.

“We currently have 88 cell towers across the district, which will be scaled up to 133 by this fiscal end. Also, we will be erecting 160 more towers during 2009-10, each with an investment of Rs 25 lakh,” P Nagaraju, general manager, BSNL Vizag telecom district, told mediapersons here.

At present, BSNL has 155,000 cell connections in the district. It expects this to touch 300,000 by the end of March 2010, he added.

In a bid to stop further erosion of its landline subscriber base, Nagaraju said BSNL was planning to provide Internet facility to the landline users.

“Our landline connections plummeted to 135,000, from 144,000 last year. We are trying to retain the existing number of landlines by providing Internet connections to 48,000 users this year,” he said, adding the company would soon launch its Wimax services in the district.

Last year, BSNL earned Rs 118 crore from landline connections and Rs 39 crore from cellphones.