Kolkata, Jan 01: Faced with the challenges thrown by private telecom operators, the state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is all set to launch its all-in-one broadband multifunctional service in the city shortly. The service, which would enable customers get multiple telecom services through a single cable pair, would be launched through Calcutta telephones here for the first time in the country, according to a top ranking BSNL official.

The official further said that the field trial of this multi utility service was underway and it might take less than a month for its launch in the city. The service was on display during the just concluded Industrial India Trade Fair. Elaborating on the service, the BSNL official said that the broadband would enable customers to get services like telephone, internet, satellite TV channels, Video on Demand (VOD), Audio on Demand (AOD) and video conferencing through a pair of telephone wire.

He said that most important feature of this would be that all the services could be used almost simultaneously. A person could be hooked on to the internet and watching satellite TV channels or video on demand without engaging the telephone. No dial-up for connecting to internet would be required and hence there would be no extra telephone bill for internet use which may be against a fixed monthly rental, the BSNL official said.

To a query about the expected time for the commercial launch of the service, he said that since the trial of the broadband service was already on, it was just a matter of a few weeks. The service would be launched after finalising other details like monthly tariff, he said. Bureau Report