CHENNAI, Oct 6: India's telecommunications gateway to the world, the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), is setting up a new earth station at a cost of over Rs 110 crore. It is coming up near VSNL's existing Thiruvallur Earth Station (TES) in Chennai.

The new earth station will house two satellite dishes, of Standard A and Standard B specifications. A Standard A satellite dish has a higher capacity to handle international telecommunications traffic than a Standard B dish.Chennai VSNL officials said the two new satellite dishes will enable it to handle more traffic. Of the total cost of Rs 110 crore for the project, the Standard B dish will cost VSNL Rs 30 crore and the Standard A dish, Rs 80 crore. The Standard B satellite dish is being set up and would become operational in April 1998, the officials said. Work on the Standard A dish is expected to commence only in December 1997 and is likely to be completed in about two years.

With the introduction of this dish, the call handling capacity from VSNL, Chennai would double. The upgradation would also facilitate television broadcasting, the officials added.

Till date, the Telugu Eenadu Television is the only television channel which uses VSNL's uplinking facility to transmit its programmes through the Intelsat. The channel has sole transmission rights to Intelsat. With the new satellite dishes in place, more television channels would be able to route their programmes through VSNL's uplinking facility. The enhanced capacity would also facilitate international access for corporates and software houses dependent on VSNL's network.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.