Mumbai, Oct 3: BSES TeleCom, the subsidiary of the Mumbai-based power utility, is awaiting the government's policy on Internet-based telecom services. The company, sources say, is eager to provide Internet telephony and video conference facilities once the government announces a policy in this regard. BSES TeleCom is keenly monitoring progress in this area and will be ready with advanced technology when the doors are thrown open for companies to enter the sector, said general manager Prakash Chaukar.Globally, Internet telephony is increasingly becoming popular, he said, adding that transcontinental rates for such services have come down significantly to around 5 cents a minute. Prices may come down further with an increase in demand. According to him, Internet telephony is expected to be permitted in India also. BSES TeleCom, like other power transmission and distribution companies, is expected to have an added advantage over other Internet service providers (ISPs), he added. One of the advantages thesepower companies have is right of way facilities to set up the T&D (transmission and distribution) infrastructure. This can help establish an Internet base besides making the existing network complementary.
The telecom subsidiary which was set up four years ago has been performing well, Chaukar said. The company has made considerable progress in the IT field while on telecommunication, it has identified the products but needs to wait until the government opens up these areas.
BSES Telecom has obtained a category "B" licence to provide Internet services in Mumbai. It will enter various related areas such as e-mail, chat news electricity billing web hosting and value-added services like database services, e-commerce, media streaming and virtual private network, said Chaukar. As an ISP, the company expects to rope in about one lakh consumers in the first two years. It plans to obtain "A" category ISP licence to provide services at a national level.
The company has already completed the first phase ofsetting up an optical fibre network linking all the 45 receiving stations of BSES. This will provide high speed seamless communication among the various offices and installations of the power company. BSES Telecom has made considerable progress in developing software for power companies.
Its computer centre at Bangalore has been working on providing Y2K solution to power plants. The company has also set up computers at Ajmer and Jhunjhunu to handle additional billing for the Rajasthan State Electricity Board (RSEB).
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.