Communication gap at telecom

PUNE, NOV 29: Principal General Manager of Pune Telecom, Nirmal Saroop, today said that the Pune Telecom would set up seven new telephone...

PUNE, NOV 29: Principal General Manager of Pune Telecom, Nirmal Saroop, today said that the Pune Telecom would set up seven new telephone exchanges in various parts of the city within the next six months to provide more effective service to its consumers.

He was participating in the 8220;Aap Ki Adalat8221; programme organised by the Rotary Clubs of Pune Cantonment, Hill Side, North East and Far East. Juzer Haideri was the prosecutor.

While explaining the Pune Telecom8217;s achievements and its future plan, Saroop said the Pune Telecom was going through a period of transition as new telephone exchanges were being set up in frozen areas like Kondhwa, Kothrud, Sangvi, Akurdi and Baner.

Besides, he pointed out, seven digit telephone numbers were being given in various areas. 8220;Complaints pertaining to telephone service are likely to increase due to the workload but they will soon be sorted out,8221; he assured.

Saroop said efforts were on to make it possible to provide telephone available on demand all over the city by March 2,000. Telephones have already been made available on demand in some parts of the city, he added.

While stating that the capacity of Pune Telecom has been increased, Saroop said the Pune Telecom had provided 7,000 new lines in the last two months. He said they had introduced various facilities and services including morning alarm, personal secretary, hotline, calling line identification with call memory, answering machine and call alert services. The STD phone cards, which can be used in 39 cities across the country including Delhi and Mumbai, have also been made available in Pune.

Besides, Saroop said, ISN connections which are used for data transfer and video conferencing have been made available. Three subscribers have availed of the free phone facility which makes it possible for the called party to pay for the calls made, he added.

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While stating that the average life of telephone instruments provided by Pune Telecoms was 10 years, Saroop said the customers had also been permitted to install their own telephone instruments and internal telephone lines.

He said the Pune Telecom has made available the comupterised telephone directory of the entire state except for Mumbai. These directories were available at all the CTOs and the service centres of Pune Telecom, he added.

In its verdict, the court ruled that the prosecution has not been able to establish its charges pertaining to incompetency and insensitivity toward customers. However, the court upheld the charge that there was lack of communication among the top management of Pune Telecom and customers. The court sentenced Saroop to attend larger gatherings of audiences to provide information and to attend more programmes organised by Rotary clubs.