BSNL to offer 130,000 WiLL connections in UP

After a successful run in the GSM mobile segment in UP (W) telecom circle, BSNL is now foraying into CDMA-based Wireless in Local Loop (WiLL) mobiles by offering 130,000 WiLL connections this year.

BSNL UP (W) Chief General Manager Suresh Bhargava said the UP (W) telecom circle had earned a revenue of Rs 36,000 crore in 2004, which had reached 39,000 crore in 2005-2006, earning a profit of Rs 8 crore to the company.

The growth in the company's revenue and profits was largely due to the tremendous response received by its mobile services and after GSM, BSNL was now introducing CDMA-based mobiles in the telecom circle this year. He said the first Main Switching Center (MSC) had been established in Ghazaiabad which was capable to handling 50,000 WiLL subscribers. Also, 67 Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) had been setup in the circle out of which, 10 had been allocated to Agra.

He said the testing for the BTSs was nearly completed and the network shall be switched on soon, following which, another MSC capable of handling 80,000 lines will be established in Moradabad, bringing the combined line handling capacity of the two MSCs to 130,000 subscribers.

Besides, he said, BSNL had also tied up with Nokia and Motorola to provide mobile bundling scheme for its GSM mobile subscribers, offering free talktime of Rs 3600 over a period of two years.

According to Bhargava, BSNL was one step behind private operators in marketing its products but to bridge this gap, BSNL had now tied up with the Indian Postal Department, which will now market BSNL's products alongwith its own services.