Karnataka's cellular capacity to touch 8.5 lakh

BANGALORE: Karnataka''s cellular phone capacity will increase to 8.5 lakh this year by April-end, when an additional 5.3 lakh capacity is added to its existing cellular capacity.
By February end, SIM cards for both pre-paid and post paid connections will be made available said BSNL Karnataka Telecom Circle CGM, speaking to media persons after he released telephone directories for 2004.
Improved coverage would be provided when by April-end a total of 350 base terminal stations (BTS) become part of the BSNL network.
From January 2003 to January 2004, BSNL had seen an increase in 10,000 land lines and a revenue growth of 5 to 10 per cent, he said.
BSNL is also contemplating on introducing plastic scratch cards for the India Telephone Cards -- STD prepaid cards-- that are at present in paper coupon form.
The Grameen Sanchar Sevak scheme where postmen take mobiles to doorstep of rural homes has been implemented in Karnataka through extra departmental staff, he said. It has been bringing in revenue of Rs 2,000 per week. But since the penetration of mobile phones in Karnataka, even in rural areas has been fairly good, the use is limited to areas where there is no accessibility at all.