The Kerala circle of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is readying for a ‘large influx' of mobile customers through the mobile number portability (MNP) window.
According to Mr Premachandra, Chief General Manager, BSNL-Kerala, at least five lakh new customers are expected to ‘port in' during this financial year.
He said this while speaking at a function organised by the Trivandrum Management Association to explain the formalities, processes and procedures associated with the MNP regime.
EXHIBITION SOON
The function was a prelude to a seminar and exhibition on MNP to be held here later this month involving all major mobile service providers in the State.
Mr Premachandra said BSNL-Kerala has been working on a through overhaul of all its services, facilities and infrastructure over the past one-and-a-half year.
Fourteen dedicated teams had been deployed to monitor mobile services. Service parameters and service optimisation levels have since improved appreciably.
Mr Premachandra said a taskforce has been set up and optimised 1,357 new base transceiver stations (BTS) during the past eight to 10 months, which is about 40 per cent of the number added during the last eight years.
‘RECORD' ACHIEVEMENT
Of special significance was the achievement of 14 lakh mobile connections during 50 days in November 2010 to January 2011, a record in itself for any operator (including peer BSNL circles), anywhere in the country, he said.
Until March 31 this year, BSNL has added 18.2 lakh new connections, which is more than half the connections available at year-ago levels.
What sets apart the BSNL from others is the ability to offer tailor-made solutions as also the economy (as distinct from being ‘cheap') of services with no hidden costs.
To substantiate his point, Mr Premachandra recounted an experience during his tenure in Jharkhand where the Tinplate Company of India Ltd, a Tata enterprise, moved all its land and mobile connections from Tata Teleservices to BSNL.
CASE STUDY
This large-scale migration from a private sector company by ditching a group services provider has since been made a case study in a number of management institutes, he said.
In the Kerala circle, 40,000 customers have ported in during the past one month alone. MNP has also evinced good interest from the corporate sector here as well.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr B. Sunil Kumar, General Manager (Network Planning), Consumer Mobility, BSNL-Kerala, said MNP has been a hugely complex programme achieved with minimum fuss.
It has been a managerial, technical and logistical challenge dealing with voice, data and GPRS services through varied platforms ranging from GSM, CDMA and 3G.
But this challenge has been met head on, and MNP is now possible at the command of a single text message.
Teething issues, including those involving the MNP Clearing House Authority (MCHA), have largely been sorted out and streamlined.
According to Mr Sunil Kumar, penetration of 3G services would effectively deal with the bugbear of call drops-voice clarity-network congestion.