The city of Chennai is supposed to get third generation (3G) mobile services of  Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) by January next year. The news of launching 3G mobile services in Tamil Nadu's capital was confirmed by the director (finance) of BSNL, S.D. Saxena. The public telecom operator has already acquired the license and spectrum rights for launching 3G services in most parts of the country. Although BSNL enjoys favourable position for being a public sector enterprise, it has to pay the same fees as private operators.

 

Operating 3G mobile services requires huge expenses. When asked about the process of meeting these expenses, S.D. Saxena informed that the telecom operator will undertake efforts to keep the customers away from such burden. According to him, a number of schemes will be offered so that people can afford the service. Talking about the 93 million lines tender floated by BSNL, the official stated that the evaluation procedures of the tenders have not been completed yet.

 

Mr Saxena also informed that BSNL has not been affected by the on-going financial crisis and it still enjoys a favorable condition in the market. Apart from dealing with the telecom services, BSNL is also one of the leading internet service providers in the country. With more than 17 lakhs subscribers, it provides internet service to the entire country (except in New Delhi and Mumbai) under the brand name of Sancharnet.