Pune BSNL’s main hub for cellular operations in western region

Nanda Kasabe

PUNE: After years of promises, the long wait seems to be finally over. With

the installation of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd's (BSNL) GSM Mobile project, Pune

is all set to be the hub for the western region covering Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,

Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Goa. Pune has been chosen as the validation site

for the western zone, which means that all the operations in the western region,

excluding Mumbai will be covered from Pune.

In what should give the existing cellular operators a run for their money,

BSNL is investing close to Rs 2,000 crore to roll out its cellular services

across the country, having targeted a subscriber base of four million over the

next two years. BSNL has bagged licenses in 26 circles across the country.

According to R L Dubey, Principal General Manager, Pune Telecom, BSNL's

cellular operations will cover the entire country except the Northeast and Jammu

& Kashmir, and will be based on the principle of "quality at affordable

prices". The cellular services will be rolled out almost simultaneously

throughout the country in the next three months. J & K and the NorthEast

have been obviously left alone for security reasons, he explained, adding that

operations in Gujarat are likely to be slightly delayed due to the uncertain

atmosphere.

The first phase of the ambitious project involves 40,000 lines in Pune that

will be rolled out in July or August. This will be expanded to 1,05,000 lines in

the next phase.

Dubey said that around 43 GSM towers would be installed in Pune region. The

contract has been awarded to ITI, which in turn, will work with Lucent

Technologies. The total capital outlay in the western region comes upto Rs 650

crore. BSNL already has around seven lakh landlines in place while the number is

pegged at 20 lakh. ``Even if we manage 50 per cent of these, we would be able to

garner a good base,'' he said.

What makes it different from the existing operators? Despite a late entry

into the market, BSNL officials claim to have to edge over other operators since

the BNSL Mobile network will enjoy all India coverage. All major cities, even

rural areas, railway tracks, highways will be fully covered. "We have a

massive infrastructure to carry out the call smoothly", assures Dubey,

explaining that the network is being built over optical fiber connectivity to

give maximum reliability.

Since Pune remains the hub center, the main switching center will also be

located here. Two other switching centers will be located at Nagpur and

Aurangabad. The western region covers around 131 cities.

Dubey claimed that BSNL Mobile will be affordable. BSNL, Pune has undertaken

a massive market survey with the help of management students from Symbiosis,

Sinhagad Institute of Management and the Indian Institute of e Business

Management Solutions to find out the customer needs.

The strategy will be to offer value additions to the customer. BNSL, however,

has not confirmed if the roaming facility will be bundled along with other

services. Customers will be required to purchase their handsets independently.

It is however, talking to several banks to offer existing BSNL customers' loans

to become cellular. BSNL has also planned customer service centers to cater to

the cellular customers.