Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has planned to make
capital expenditure of Rs.20,000 crore in 2005-06, twice of the Rs.10,000 crore
in 2004-05.
BSNL has also planned to float tenders for 40
lakh mobile phone lines in by mid-June 2005. In late 2004, the telecom major had
floated tenders for 15 lakh lines that were expected to last for two years.
However, these lines are likely to be exhausted by December 2005. With the
proposed tender floatation, BSNL expects to meet its projected cellular phone
demand till 2007.
BSNL also plans to float a tender for equipment
that would enable it to offer 50 lakh broadband connections by 2007. Meanwhile,
ground work is also being done for the launch of 3G-based mobile telephony.
Also See:
BSNL
awards $500 million contract to Nortel (16-Dec-04)