(a) whether the Government has any proposals for the expansion of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL);
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the time by which the said proposals are likely to be drawn up; and
(d) the investments proposed to be made therein?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD)
(a) & (b) Sir, BSNL has been expanding its Telecom Network at regular intervals. BSNL plan for expansion of its
telecom network for next 2-3 years is as follows.
1. Expansion of GSM mobile network by 63.5 million lines.
2. Expansion of WLL network by 25.2 lakh lines.
3. Expansion of Broadband Network by 6 million lines.
4. Commissioning of Satellite Equipment for provisioning of 14,183 VPTs on Satellite in remote and far-flung villages.
During the current financial year expansion plan is detailed below;
S.No. Item Target for 2006-07
1 Addition in telephone customer base (in lakh lines) 100 2 Net addition to Internet Customer Base(in lakhs) 8 3 Addition to Broadband Customer Base(in lakhs) 6 4 Net addition of Optical Fibre (OF) cables(in Route KMs) 24,000 5 Net addition in Trunk Automatic Exchange (TAX) capacity 1,200 (in Kilo Circuits) 6 Village Public Telephones (VPTs) (in Nos.) 20,000