BSNL starts international roam

CHENNAI: BSNL has added more features into its cellular service. With effect from next month, BSNL will introduce international roaming in its cellular network. . All international roamers coming to India and using BSNL network will be charged Rs 75 per minute on a 60-second pulse. For this BSNL has tied up with 128 international operators, which will cover 160 countries.

International call charges will be as per the network selected by the BSNL post-paid subscribers, with a surcharge at the rate of 15 percent on such amount. In addition, security deposit will be enhanced to Rs 7,500. Out-bound roaming service will also be shortly introduced in Tamil Nadu circle.

Meanwhile, BSNL has also introduced international SMS, which till now was restricted within the country. Here, the in-roamers will be charged Rs 20 per outgoing message. The Cell-One customers will have to pay Rs 3 per message and the pre-paid customers will be charged Rs 5. These charges are for a maximum of 160 characters. Besides this, BSNL has also reduced the charges of the national SMS to 40 paise from 60 paise.

The Tamil Nadu circle of BSNL is getting aggressive in WLL. According to Tamil Nadu Circle chief GMK Mahadevan, "we are planning to lay 15,000 WLL lines in the rural areas, moreover since we can't lay cables, WLL is the only option to penetrate into rural villages."

Currently, Tamil Nadu has 62,000 applicants in the waiting list for landline connection. "They will be provided with WLL connection," remarked Mahadevan.

CyberMedia News Service