BSNL to launch 4G service in Kerala by March next

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 23 (PTI) State-run BSNL isgearing up to offer 4G services in Kerala by March next, acompany official said today. The 4G plan would be introduced as part of the company’sexpansion at the Phase-8 pan-India level and a tender for ithas already been called for, the official said. A set of 190 new Wi-fi access points would also beimplemented in the state circle during the current financialyear, he said. "4G will be introduced in select cities in Kerala circleby next March. As part of this, 663 4G towers will beinstalled," BSNL Chief General Manager, Kerala Circle, R Manitold reporters here today. Besides introduction of 4G, initiatives to expand theexisting 2G and 3G services are also in the offing, he said. Detailing the Phase-8 expansion plans in the circle,he said, "Another 1,083 new 3G sites will be launched in thestate. All old technology 2G sites will be replaced with newtechnology 2G sites." The official claimed that BSNL’s 3G speed is much fasterthan the 4G services offered by many private players. On Wi-fi service expansion, Mani said that BSNL’s Keralacircle has implemented 160 Wi-fi Access Points at 93 locationsand another 190 points will be implemented during the currentfinancial year. All these sites are MDO (mobile dateoffloading) enabled which gives Wi-fi access to mobilecustomers. He said that for BSNL, Kerala is the highest profitmaking circle in the country with a profit of Rs 658 crore in2015-16, against Rs 486 crore during 2014-15, a growth of over35 per cent. To stimulate growth in landlines, BSNL announced newplans and offers like unlimited Night Free calls and unlimitedcalls on Sundays. "In order to encourage new subscribers and bring backour old customers who switched to other players, we haveintroduced the LL49 Experience plan with a fixed monthlycharge of just Rs 49 for the first six months," he said addingBSNL SIM card is also offered free to customers subscribing tothis plan. BSNL Kerala circle has a mobile customer base of 80.5lakh including 78.2 lakh pre-paid and 2.3 lakh post-paid ones.Its landline customer base is 20.72 lakh and total broadbandconnection is 6.60 lakh. PTI LGK ROH BN JMMR