BSNL plans to increase its broadband network

NEW DELHI: India's largest telecom operator BSNL will invest about Rs 2,000 crore to augment its broadband infrastructure in urban and rural areas.

"We will invest Rs 1200-1500 crores for expanding our broadband network in urban areas while about Rs 500 crores would be invested in rural areas," BSNL CMD A K Sinha told reporters here.

He also announced that the company would offer broadband connectivity at a speed of upto 2 mbps at the existing tariff of Rs 250 per month.

With this offering, BSNL will upgrade all its 8.2 lakh broadband users with upto 2 mbps broadband speed from the current 256 kbps.

The PSU also expects to add 5 million port capacity to the existing network of 1 million ports, he said.

In the rural areas, where broadband connection over copper lines is not possible, the state-owned telecom major will use Wimax technology to offer broadband services.

He said the company will add 1000 Wimax towers by the middle of next year, which will cover 20,000-30,000 villages. However, BSNL is yet to place its Wimax equipment order.