MTNL eyes east Europe, BSNL broadband

As the Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) enlarges its footprint in east European countries on the GSM platform, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is planning to invest Rs 1,500 crore to expand its broadband service to 1,000 more cities.

BSNL is also carrying out trials for its Wi-MAX services in six cities and four towns.

MTNL officials said the company would bid for GSM licences, when they open up, in some countries in eastern Europe. These countries include Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine.

BSNL will expand its broadband service to 1,400 cities from the present 400.

"We will expand our broadband services to 1,400 cities by this financial year. With the initiative, we plan to reach, in the next two years, a broadband subscriber base of six million," a BSNL official said.