(a) the number of BSNL and MTNL subscribers who surrendered their landline telephone till date;
(b) the losses suffered by the Government in this regard; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to provide more facilities to landline subscribers ?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHOK PRADHAN)
(a) Sir, the number of BSNL and MTNL subscribers who surrendered the landline telephones during the current year till 31.10.03 are as under:
BSNL : 17.9 lakhs, MTNL : 2.039 lakhs
(i) Free Intra and inter-city shifting.
(ii) Phone plus facilities such as CLI (Calling Line Identifications), fixed line SMS (Short Messaging Service) etc.
MTNL has initiated the following measures:
(i) Additional thrust has been give on marketing Garuda (WLL) Services;
(ii) CDMA 1X version has been launched in Delhi.
(iii) Bill payment has been made easy through pay-in-slips. Credit Cards, Banks, ATMs, Internet and Mobile vans etc.
(iv) Commercially important subscribers have been given graded volume discount and other various facilities like CLIP, phone plus facilities, (call waiting voice mail service, automatic hunting facilities, answering machine etc.)
(v) CLIP based Express Internet Service has been provided which is billed along with regular bill.
(vi) SMS and email services to land line subscribers of Delhi have been provided.
(vii) Incoming only facility has been launched with a monthly rental of Rs. 100/- where customers can make outgoing calls by using MTNL prepaid cards.