Friday, January 14 2005 14:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Public sector telecom majors Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) today (Jan 14, 2005) launched its broadband Internet services in over 200 cities across the country, fixing a highly competitive Rs 500 per month tariff for home users.

The nation-wide launch of broadband services, inaugurated in Chennai by Union IT and Telecommunications Minister Dayanidhi Maran, is aiming to achieve a target of one million customers by December 31, 2005.

The broadband services of BSNL in West Bengal was inaugurated by the Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee in Kolkata followed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy in Hyderabad, Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh in Bangalore, Maharashtra Industries Minister Ashok Chavan in Mumbai and Union Minister of State for IT Shakeel Ahmed in Delhi.

The broadband Internet services, which will have a minimum speed of 256 kbps (kilo bits per second), will be 17.5 times faster than a dial-up connection and about eight times faster than ISDN.

Maran said that the tariffs fixed by BSNL and MTNL for the broadband connection at Rs 500 per month (for home users) and Rs 1200 (for business units) was aimed at bringing high-speed Internet access to the rural masses.

In comparison, the tariffs of other ISP (Internet service providers) were much higher viz. Tata Indicom's Rs 1500 per month, Airtel's Rs 1400 per month and Sify's Rs 2750 per month.

"BSNL and MTNL have the cheapest tariffs for broadband," he said.

To use the 'Dataone' broadband connection, the customer should have a BSNL (or MTNL in Delhi and Mumbai) landline connection, a personal computer with 10/100 Internet port, and a Windows 98 operating system.

A K Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL, said that by March 31, 2005, BSNL would provide 50,000 broadband connections. The PSU (Public Sector Unit) has also set a target of achieving two million customers in 2006 and three million in 2007.

"We are hopeful of achieving this target," he said.