Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, OCT 1 (NPN): Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will install 1,857 mobile towers across Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh to provide connectivity to villages and remote areas without mobile coverage.
BSNL Chief General Manager, NE-II Circle, Ramashray Prasad, said this while interacting with media persons in Dimapur on Thursday after a 5-km run organised as part of BSNL’s 26th Foundation Day celebrations.
Prasad said the government had mandated BSNL to saturate villages with mobile connectivity by installing towers in areas where other operators have no coverage. The initiative would enable people in remote areas to access BSNL’s 4G services.
He said BSNL was also connecting Gram Panchayats and villages through optical fibre under the Amended BharatNet project.
Prasad said around 1,800 towers had been rolled out in rural areas across the three northeastern states. In Arunachal Pradesh, 102 new towers were rolled out during the month, with another 350 planned.
In Nagaland, BSNL has 485 4G towers, including 296 in remote villages. Another 22 saturation towers are planned. Under the 9.2 project for upgrading existing 2G and 3G sites, 196 towers have been covered, while 382 new saturation towers are planned.
PGM, NE-II Circle, Dilip Siram, said around 75% of the 4G saturation project and 95% of the 9.2 project in Nagaland had been completed. Once completed, all villages in the state are expected to have 4G connectivity, he said.
Siram said BSNL would roll out 5G once its 4G network stabilised. Around 1.70 lakh people in Nagaland currently subscribe to BSNL services, he added.
On BSNL’s disaster-response role, Kikon said the company remained focused on providing reliable connectivity in remote and border areas, including those adjoining Myanmar.
On the occasion, BSNL announced a new Rs.349 prepaid STV, effective October 3, offering unlimited voice calls, unlimited data and 100 SMS per day for 28 days. It also announced an additional 15 days’ validity on its Rs.2,399 prepaid plan for recharges made between October 1 and 15, increasing validity from 365 to 380 days.