BSNL offers mobile services in Kashmir

NEW DELHI: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), India's largest telecom firm by sales, will start offering cellular services in Jammu and Kashmir soon, the company's chairman said on Monday.

"Bookings for cellular connections have begun in the cities of Jammu and Srinagar on Monday," Prithipal Singh told Reuters. "Services are expected to begin shortly."

New Delhi-based BSNL started registrations after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, in his Independence Day speech, stated that Kashmir would be on the country's cellular map by next week, repeating the government's long-standing promise.

Although cellular services began in most of India in 1995, authorities did not introduce mobile phones in the Himalayan state because they feared they would be used by separatist rebels to plan attacks or evade security forces.

Many Islamic militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, where at least 38,000 people have died in almost 14 years of fighting.

Separatist groups say the toll is more than double that.

The unlisted BSNL is also India's second-largest cellular services provider in a market that has more than 16.3 million users and which is expected to hit at least 100 million by 2008.

© Reuters