Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has decided not to hike its basic telephony rentals from April 1, and is planning to further rationalise its tariff plans.

"Considering the large-scale migration to cellular phones, we have decided not to hike rentals," Roop Narayan Bharadwaj, chief general manager of the Maharashtra circle of BSNL, said.

BSNL is also working on increasing the pulse rate or extending distance slabs.

"With the tariff revisions, we will be in a position to offer a flat rate to our subscribers, particularly in the Maharashtra & Goa circle, if the distance slabs are changed," Bharadwaj added.

Bharadwaj claimed that in Maharashtra alone there had been 40,000 instances of surrendered basic telephone lines, with "a large number of people opting for mobile phones and also because of the industrial recession".

In Maharashtra, BSNL has over 3.9 million basic telephones and is expected to add 260,000 lines by the end of March 2003. It is also working towards increasing its cellular subscriber base to 620,000 connections from 200,000 in the circle in the next four months.

Bharadwaj pointed out that the corporation was targeting highways, the Railways, religious sites and tourist places in Maharashtra to expand its subscriber base. The state contributes 10 per cent to BSNL's overall turnover.

The circle, till date, has revenue bills of up to Rs 2,300 crore (Rs 23 billion), which are expected to touch Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 billion) by March 31, 2003.

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 31 Sub: How Come Relaince info comm how is relaince infocomm able to give STD calls at 40/paise per min i mean Reliance to Reliance .... if this is possible then why ... Posted by chandu Sub: Rental Hike BSNL has earlier announced to hike the rental, and now not not hike! may be its because the competition faced by the BSNL from the ... Posted by Manoharan Sub: A Welcome Thought It is a positive step towards public sector becoming customer-savvy or admitting competition. Increasing rates/tariffs may not be irrational at the end of the day, ... Posted by Ashish Jalan Sub: BSNL NOT TO HIKE BASIC RENTALS Good to hear this that after all BSNL has got smell of what is to happen if these people are going to hike rentals many ... Posted by Ajay Mishra Sub: Nice to hear This is very happy news to hear. And they should plan to reduce the basic rental at least by 30%. Now these days telephone is ... Posted by G.Srinivas Reddy