Excelsior Correspondent
LEH, Sept 29: The services of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in the districts are all set to improve considerably as the Nigam has installed new Mobile Switching System and will increase the mobile tower capacity in several areas of the district very shortly.
Addressing press conference at BSNL main office here, Chief General Manager (CGM), BSNL J&K Circle, R K Kaul said, “we have installed new Mobile Switching System in Leh and this will ensure smooth mobile, GPRS and landline connectivity even in case of OFC failure”. He, however, said that broadband services would still be dependent on OFC.
Making a mention of the damage caused to BSNL infrastructure during the flash flood of 2010, the CGM said, “BSNL worked day and night to restore telecom services within minimum possible time. Partial mobile services were restored within 48 hours of cloudburst. DSPTs were installed at important locations within a week’s time. Landline and Broadband services were also restored within a month time on temporary basis”.
“BSNL took up the civil works for repairing the exchange premises on war footing and in the year 2011 OCB TAX cum local exchange was installed in renovated building. Without any support from Center and State Government BSNL has spent Rs 20 crore on restoration work in the region,” he informed.
“The major problem for disturbed communication system in Ladakh is due to frequent OFC cut between Srinagar-Kargil-Leh. This OFC route is jointly maintained by BSNL and Army”, he said, adding “Union Government has sanctioned Rs 74 crore to lay OFC from Leh to Manali besides enhancing the satellite capacity so that 227 hamlets in Ladakh are connected through DSPT”.
In response to a question, he said, “BSNL will increase the mobile tower capacity at Khalsti, Tangtse, Diskit, Siachen Base Camp, Drass, Sangku and Barotang. We will also install 10 new towers each in Leh and Kargil districts”.
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