Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Communication Service Provider |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Availability | National Except Delhi & Mumbai |
| Owner | The Government of India |
| Key people | A.K. Sinha (CEO); S.D. Saxena (CFO) |
| Past names | DTS / DTO / DoT |
| Website | BSNL.co.in |
BSNL or Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is India's largest Communication Service Provider (CSP), and seventh largest in the world. Previously known as DoT (Department of Telecommunications) when it was under federal government control, it became a corporation in 2000. BSNL has footprints throughout India except for the metropolitan cities of Mumbai and New Delhi which are managed by MTNL, and presently commands over 37 million Wireline & WLL and 21 million mobile subscribers. BSNL's earnings for the Financial Year ending March 31, 2006 stood at US$ 8.6 billion with a net profit of US$ 1.9 billion. BSNL is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) wholly owned by Government of India with a status of 'Mini-ratna'.
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[edit] History
The foundation of Telecom Network in India was laid by British sometime in 19th Century & history of BSNL is linked with the beginning of Telecom in India. In 19th century and for almost entire 20th century, the Telecom in India was operated as a Government of India wing. Earlier it was part of erstwhile Post & Telegraph Department (P&T). In 1975 the Department of Telecom (DoT) was separated from P&T. DoT was resposnsible for running of Telecom services in entire country until 1985 when Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was carved out of DoT to run the telecom services of Delhi and Mumbai. Subsequently in 1990s the telecom sector was opened up by the Government for Private investment, therefore it became necessary to separate the Government's policy wing from Operations wing. The Government of India corporatised the operations wing of DoT on October 01, 2000 and named it as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
[edit] Main Services being provided by BSNL
BSNL provides almost every telecom service, however following are the main Telecom Services being provided by BSNL in India:-
1. Universal Telecom Sevices : Fixed wireline services & Wireless in Local loop (WLL) using CDMA Technology.
2. Cellular Mobile Telephone Services: BSNL is major provider of Cellular Mobile Telephone services using GSM platform.
3. Internet: BSNL is providing internet as dial-up connection and Broadband.
4. Intelligent Netwok (IN): BSNL is providing IN services like tele-voting, toll free calling, premium calling etc.
[edit] Brand Names of major services of BSNL
Fixed wireline phone : bfone
WLL phone : Tarang
GSM Mobile : Cellone
Prepaid GSM Mobile : Excel
Internet Services : Sancharnet
Broadband Internet : Dataone
[edit] BSNL Present & Furture
Since its corporatisation in October 2000, BSNL has been actively providing connections in both Urban and Rural areas and the efficiency of the company has drastically improved from the days when one had to wait for years to get a phone connection to now when one can get a connection in even hours. Pre-activated Mobile connections are available at many places across India. BSNL has also unveiled very cost-effective Broadband internet access plans (DataOne) targeted at homes and small businesses.
BSNL plans to add 20 million subscribers annually for the next three years, and to achieve customer base of 120 million by 2008. With the frantic activity in the communication sector in India, the target appears achievable, however due to intense competition in Indian Telecom sector in recent past BSNL's growth has slowed down. Today, BSNL is India's largest Telco and one of the largest Public Sector Undertaking of the country with authorized share capital of $ 3977 million and networth of $ 14.32 billion.
[edit] Recent News
BSNL is in the process of finalising a Mega tender for rollout of 60 million GSM lines. The tender has invited a controversy, when one of the bidders Motorola was disqualified by BSNL on technical grounds and Motorola has approached the court. BSNL has been allowed to process the tender, however, the Court has restrained BSNL from awarding the tender.
