Saturday, August 13 2005 16:22 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: State-owned telecom major BSNL (Bharati Sanchar Nigam Limited) will launch 40 lakh new mobile connections for South India at a gala function here (Chennai) on Wednesday (Aug 17, 2005), to be inaugurated by the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) president M Karunanidhi.

The function will be attended by Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh, Pondicherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president G K Vasan and Union Communication and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran.

Announcing this here, Maran told reporters that the 40 lakh new mobile connections by BSNL was meant for all the Southern States viz., Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and the Union Territory of Pondicherry.

The function would also see many major announcements by the Union Communications and IT Ministry, he said.

Public sector BSNL faces huge demand for mobile connections, resulting in long waiting period for prospective customers in getting the connections. The new 40-lakh mobile connections are expected to help BSNL in meeting the demand to a large extent, officials said.