BSNL rolls out WiMax services; focus on rural areas

State-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd yesterday became the first company to start wireless broadband (WiMax) services in India. It announced a nationwide launch of these services from Ajmer, where minister of state for telecommunications Sachin Pilot launched the service.

"This unique technology has been deployed for the first time in our country. Through this BSNL will usher in a new era of growth in rural areas. This technology offers broadband speed of 7 Mbps at a distance of 15kms," said Pilot from his home constituency.

The high speed wireless broadband connectivity will offer video conferencing, enabling tele-medicine and tele-education, besides providing other services like payment of utility bills, issue of birth certificates, land records, vehicle registration.

Worldwide interoperability for microwave access or WiMax is the latest 4th generation wireless broadband service working in 2.5 Ghz band. BSNL is offering this service at a starting tariff of Rs140 per month in rural areas.

The total cost of the project is Rs225 crore. BSNL has already planned to spend approximately Rs1,200 crore for rural WiMax. ''While we are launching services today, with more than 200 base stations in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, these services in 1,000 block headquarters across the nation will be launched very soon,'' the company said in a statement.

This will provide high speed wireless broadband connectivity to 11,500 common service centres in respective blocks. Through this technology, BSNL has planned to cover the remaining block headquarters for connecting 50,000 common service centres in the next phase.