The state-owned telecom major, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Friday (February 27) rolled out its third generation (3G) mobile services in 11 cities of the country. The 3G services of BSNL will be available in cities like Agra, Ambala, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Dehradoon, Shimla, Lucknow, Ranchi, Durgapur, Haldia and Patna. The company also formally launched the 3G services in Jammu.

 

The company has also released the tariff plans for 3G facilities for both pre-paid and post-paid services. As per BSNL, the voice calls will be available for minimum 10 paise per minute under the full value Rs.1,000 plan. Under the super plan of Rs 1,350, one local SMS will cost 10 paise. The company will charge Rs 1 for local video calls under the unlimited Rs 2,500 plan and Rs 2 for long-distance video calls.
 

BSNL recently launched its 3G mobile services in Chennai. The third generation mobile services aim to provide high quality voice services along with high-speed data and video services. The data speed is expected to go up to 2 Mbps or higher. The subscribers will be provided with host of applications like video telephony, mobile broadband, mobile television and video-on-demand, said BSNL.

 

The company will shortly introduce the services like music downloads, video tones, instant messaging, online gaming and bill payment in its 3G platform. It is estimated that the state-owned telecom major has made an investment of Rs 27 billion (Rs 2,700 crore) for a country-wide launch of its 3G services.