Bulk payphone subscription can increase teledensity

NEW DELHI: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that increased

telephone access can be achieved if the government allows companies to subscribe

to bulk payphone lines on the BSNL and MTNL networks. India requires 2 million

STD booths to achieve a penetration of one payphone per 500 people. Currently,

it has only about 300,000 STD payphones (one payphone per 3,500 people) as

against the 2.5 million payphones in the US (one per 120 people.

While some private basic operators have entered into agreements for bulk

subscription, payphone operators are already offering public access and Internet

services in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. If such innovative services are to

be extended to other parts of the country, BSNL and MTNL need to extend the

facilities for bulk subscription.

The teledensity in the country remains low and universal phone access is

still many years away. CII is of the view that bulk subscription of payphone

lines will result in an increase in the distribution of payphones across the

country. These companies could introduce state-of-the-art telephone instruments

that would be Internet ready and offer value-added services.

As per the current guidelines, 10 per cent of the total exchange capacity is

being set aside for payphones, allowing for 3 million payphones in India. And,

even this is not being utilized fully.

The terms of subscription, as suggested by the CII, could be the same as

those that are applicable to individual STD PCOs except for eligibility

criteria.