MTNL to launch 3G services in Mumbai next month

State-run telecom service provider Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) will launch its third generation mobile services in Mumbai next month and expects the user base for its 3G services to top 1,00,000 by the year-end.

''We are looking at launching our 3G services in Mumbai next month and looking at 1,00,000 users by the end of this year," MTNL director (technical) Kuldeep Singh said on the sidelines of a conference `Managed Services India 2009'.

MTNL, which had already launched its 3G services in Delhi last year, plans to expand its 3G services to the remaining parts of Delhi in the next two-three months, he said.

''We will begin aggressive marketing for our 3G services when we would have a good user base and cover major parts of Delhi so this will be after two to three months only," he said.

At present, MTNL offers its 3G services - Jadoo - in central and some of parts of South Delhi.

MTNL is offering a 50 per cent discount in activation of 3G services charge to be levied (excluding the VAS package), free downloads up to 60 MB for three months with maximum 20 MB per month, local video calls on own network at discounted rate of Re1 per minute up to 31 May 2009.

The promotional offer will be applicable from 25 March 2009 to 24 April 2009.       
Other terms and conditions will remain the same.

MTNL is planning to spend Rs1,724 crore in the financial year ending 31 March 2010 to expand its mobile services business in India and to increase its broadband capacity, reports quoted a senior executive as saying.

MTNL, which operates only in two of India's 22 telecom service areas, posted a net profit of Rs507 crore on revenue of Rs4,729 crore for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2008.

It has set aside Rs200 crore for building optic fiber networks in Delhi and Mumbai for providing fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) services. MTNL also will spend Rs250 crore to increase its wireless capacity in Delhi.