The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) proposes to introduce wireless telephones and mobile phones on a massive scale in Kerala, in the next two years, to overcome the mounting demands for phones in the state.
Speaking at a function here, organised to launch the wireless phone service for the first time in the state, Kerala telecom chief general manager P P Ramachandran said an estimated 7.8 lakh telephone connections would be provided this year in the state where 26.5 lakh connections already existed. The newly-introduced wireless telephone having a five km range within the city would be gradually extended to the peripheries of the city. Initially, 30,000 such connections were proposed to be provided in the cities of Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur this year, he said.
About four million mobile phones were proposed to be provided by the BSNL in the country shortly, for which orders worth $ 167 million had been placed with the us-based multi-national Motorola corporation for supply of hand sets, he added. Mr Ramachandran said the advantage of the wireless telephone connection was that it obviated the need for laying costly and time-consuming cable lines to the subscriber's end.
Mr George Eden, MP, inaugurated the new service by making the first call to Mr Mohammed Kutty, Ernakulam district panchayat president on the occasion. Bureau Report