BSNL plans to introduce cheque deposit machines

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) plans to introduce cheque deposit machines, a round-the-clock facility which would accept cheques and print receipts automatically, in the Hyderabad Telecom District.

BSNL also expects to mop up an additional 4 lakh subscribers for its cellular services in the state by the end of the current financial year.

Addressing a press meet after the inauguration of an online bill payment facility for 'Cellone' subscribers, V R Sinha, chairman and managing director, BSNL said: "In order to use this facility a customer needs to get registered on the portal and then can make the payment through online banking with either, ICICI , UTI or HDFC banks."

Sinha added that BSNL has massive developmental plans for 'Cellone' and other services that are provided by the organisation during the financial year 2004-05.

"One of the projects that would be commissioned in June this year would be to buy equipment for an additional 1.32 new lakh lines for Cellone nationally," he said.

BSNL at present has 55 lakh Cellone subscribers nationally and expects to increase its base to 95 lakh subscribers when new subscriptions open from July onwards.

In Andhra Pradesh circle there are 5.8 lakh customers and BSNL expects that they would be able to add another 4 lakh subscribers by the year end.

Sinha said that 63 new towns and 890 kilometres of national highways would be covered across the country during the year. BSNL also plans to commission 80,000 new lines by August this year for expansion of services in the existing cities and covering 11 new cities.

Sinha said that there were plans for 4.39 lakh wireless in local loop (WLL) lines in rural areas and 1.76 lakh WLL lines in urban areas. This plan would cover most of the state.

BSNL also plans to open 2,600 stand alone small exchanges which would be connected to the main exchanges for improving the reliability and to ensure better maintenance at places where it is required.

"Technology switching equipment would also be upgraded at Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam," Sinha said.

Responding to a question, Sinha said: "There is no formal proposal on the voluntary retirement scheme and it would only be implemented only if all the stake holders agree to the proposal."

Sanjaya Kumar, chief general manager, AP Telecom Circle, said that the second phase of the national internet backbone being set up would see Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Vishakapatnam, Rajahmundry and Cuddapah being covered.

"With this, a wide range of customer requirements including security, quality of service, higher bandwidth on demand, high speed internet service and many other features would be met," he said.