The service, now available for subscribers in the Karnataka circle, will be extended to other circles by the end of the year. High speed internet access (24 Mbps) using very high speed digital subscriber lines (VDSL) was also launched on the occasion.
 
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL, Kuldeep Goyal, lamented that the targets set for broadband penetration have not been met in the country. “We had a target of 10 million connections for 2007, twenty million for 2010 and 40 million for 2012. There is a huge gap to reach the target,” he said.

P Raghavan, Chief General Manager, Karnataka Telecom Circle, disclosed that there are 4.3 million BSNL broadband connections all over the country with the Karnataka Circle alone accounting for 4.8 lakh connections. The BSNL broadband services were launched on 14th February, 2005 from Bangalore.

M N Vidyashankar, Principal Secretary, Department of E-commerce said that each of 5,700 Gram Panchayats in the State would be provided with broadband connectivity by the year 2010.

A prerequisite for customers interested in subscribing to prepaid broadband services is a BSNL landline connection. Four types of vouchers of different denominations which offer unlimited download at speeds ranging from 256 Kbps to 2 Mbps are available. Nine types of vouchers of different denominations which offer limited download at speed up to 2 Mbps within the validity period of the voucher are also available.

Advantages of prepaid broadband over postpaid are: There are no fixed monthly charges; customers can use their prepaid account in any city in the country (except Delhi and Mumbai) on most of the broadband-enabled connections; existing postpaid customer can subscribe to additional prepaid connection to get the advantage of mobility. Recharge of voucher can be done anywhere in the country.

A customer has to register on the portal www.bangaloretelecom.com for Bangalore and www.karnataka.bsnl.co.in for Karnataka. Or sms ‘PPB’ to 9448077777 or send an sms via landline by typing “PPB to 9448077777 or approach any BSNL Customer Service Centre.

Initially, the customer will be given an account with user name and password with 50 MB free download and 15-day validity period. Before its expiry, recharge coupons need to be purchased.

3G in B’lore in November

The much delayed 3G services will be launched in Bangalore in November, P Raghavan, Chief General Manager of BSNL said.

Speaking to reporters onFriday, Raghavan said, “After the launch in the City, we will extend it to the entire State by March.” He said that the BSNL has plans to add 2,100 mobile towers to the existing 3,000 towers.