BANGALORE: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Karnataka Circle, is all set to roll out the WiMAX technology in the state in three weeks, in order to enable better delivery of wireless broadband services.
Unlike the few private telecom operators which have already started the service in urban areas, BSNL will exclusively concentrate in rural areas, where it is difficult to reach through wired network, said P Raghavan, chief general manager, BSNL, Karnataka Telecom Circle.
The equipment have already reached where it is to be installed, and the process is almost complete. In the first phase, 16 Base Transmission Stations (BTS) have been installed. Six BTSs is coming up in Bangalore rural areas- Magadi Road, Ramnagar, Devanahalli, Dodballapur, Whitefield and Hoskote. Ten more BTSs will be installed in the districts of Belgaum, Bellary, Bijapur, Mysore, Tumkur, Uttara Kannada and two each in Hassan and Kolar. In the second phase, BSNL plans to cover another 164 BTS. “The second phase work is in progress and we are planning to complete it by February 2010,” Raghavan added.
BSNL resorts to WiMAX services to make broadband services available in the rural districts. Initially, BSNL will provide the services through Common Services Centres (CSC). “About 4,600 CSCs have been identified in the state, of which around 3,000 have been reached through wired broadband.
For the rest of them, which are in the remotest areas, we plan to reach through WiMAX connectivity,” said Janardhan Rao, Network Planning, BSNL, Karnataka.
“It has two types of path receivers. The outdoor receiver can reach a range of about 10 kms and the indoor receiver a smaller radius of 2-3 kms,” he added. On the advantages of WiMAX services, Rao said, “The WiMAX services use radio access technology operating through the line of site (LOS), thereby providing high speed. It can accommodate fixed and mobile usage models and provide broadband connectivity anywhere, anytime and for any device.”