Team Herald
MARGAO: South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar on Wednesday raised in Lok Sabha questions about the BSNL mobile connectivity in Goa. It may be noted that the same has gone out of hand lately and has invited a lot of complaints and disconnections.
Sawaikar questioned whether the Bharat Sanchar Nigarn Limited (BSNL) has expanded its tower footprint in the country and if so the details were sought State-wise including Goa. The MP had also sought whether all the existing towers are functional and if not, the reasons and action taken/proposed.
In his reply, Minister of State (IC) Manoj Sinha said that the BSNL mobile connectivity in India is at 66,857 towers including 216 in Goa. BSNL uses 17,562 hired towers. BSNL has finalised Phase-8 expansion plan.
To further improve its network BSNL has finalised Phase-VIII GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) expansion project consisting of replacement of old equipments having high operational cost & AMC, addition of 3G capacity for increasing 3G footprint, introduction of 4G services.
The minister has also further informed that BSNL is also hiring towers from other infrastructure providers to provide better services to its customers.
The BSNL has also informed that out of total 66,857 towers of BSNL, as on date 585 towers are non-functional due to non-availability of equipment, land issues and non-availability of power supply. Operation and maintenance of towers is an ongoing activity in BSNL. BSNL will make these non-functional towers functional during the next financial year based on assessment of techno commercial viability.
It may be recalled that the BSNL has been suffering due to loss of connectivity for quite some time and has become problem area for several of its consumers. These complaints had reached Sawaikar who has suo moto raised the issue at the Lok Sabha.
