BSNL again fails to launch WLL

CHANDIGARH: Yet another deadline has passed and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is still struggling to launch its wireless in local loop (WLL) mobile in the city and Mohali.
Till a couple of weeks ago, the officials appeared to be quite confident of launching the service on February 9, but now, because of the continuing glitches in the testing, the take-off has been put off at least till the end of the month.
‘‘February 9 was only a tentative date. We need to sort out a lot of technicalities before the actual launch,’’ said principal general manager telecom, Chandigarh circle, Satya Pal. “The technical and development wing, the testing wing of the department of telecommunication (DoT), was not convinced with the technical aspects during the testing,� he added.
Incidentally, the BSNL had already launched its mobile services in Punjab and the same company (LG) was executing the project in Chandigarh on a turnkey basis. The project is estimated to cost Rs 7 crore for the initially-proposed 10,000 lines.
Initially, the service was to be launched in October 2003, but was later postponed to January 2004, and then February.