At 3-G launch,BSNL 2-G gets flak

At the launch of 3-G services by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited here on Monday,poor quality of its 2-G services came in for criticism.

At the launch of 3-G services by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) here on Monday,poor quality of its 2-G services came in for criticism.

At the inaugural function,BSNL advisory board member and MP Sharad Joshi said,It is good BSNL has launched 3-G but 2-G services need to be upgraded. He said he could not connect calls from his WLL service. Call drop rate is huge. Internet connectivity,especially in rural areas,is poor. BSNL should pay attention to 2-G quality while launching 3-G, he said.

2-G services also cropped up at the press conference that followed,with officials finally agreeing there were technical hitches in BSNL services. They said 50 new BTS towers were needed in the city for uninterrupted services. In the last three to four months,customers have been complaining of sudden call drops,connection problems and network congestion and hundreds have surrendered connections.

Admitting technical glitches,GM,mobile section,BSNL Maharashtra and Goa Circle,Mohanlal,said,There were some technical issues regarding BSNL mobile network… We have corrected the problem to some extent. He said the city has 400 BTS towers for 2G services. There are around 4 lakh customers in Pune,3.25 lakh pre-paid and 85,000 post-paid. We need 50 more BTS towers to enhance capacity, said Mohanlal.

Call drop was mainly seen in cantonment areas as we do not have permission to erect BTS towers there. We have been pursuing for permission to upgrade mobile services, he said. He said many shopping complexes and hotels in the city also did not permit BSNL to set up towers.

15,000 to benefit
Around 15,000 BSNL mobile customers in the city can now avail 3-G service as the public utility launched the service officially on Monday. Video calls (local and STD) in 30 paise per minute and high speed mobile broadband facility are some of the key features of 3-G.

City Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal launched the service by making a video call to Pimpri-Chinchwad Mayor Yogesh Behl. MP Sharad Joshi,MP Gajanan Babar,chief general manager of BSNL,Maharashtra circle,Aloke Kaul,general manager of mobile section of Maharashtra and Goa circle Mohanlal and principal general manager of Pune region V K Mahendra were present on the occasion.

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Kaul said Pune was the first city to get 3-G in Western Zone. “We will launch the service in 54 cities across the state in next two months. We have become the first service providers to launch 3-G service in Maharashtra,” he said. He said there were 4 lakh mobile customers in the city.

Features
Video calls at 30 p/min
Higher download speed
Wireless Internet with maximum 3.6 MBPS speed
Movie and video on demand

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3G
BSNL
telecom