DoT to launch mobile service

kolkata: union minister of state for telecommunication tapan sikdar said on friday that the department of telecommunication and c-dot will jointly launch its mobile telephone service in kolkata between durga puja and diwali. "five months ago, i had announced such services. i am sorry there has been a delay due to technical reasons. but now we are more or less ready with the mobile service," sikdar told newsmen in kolkata on friday.he also said a committee was set up to iron out the technical glitches. sikdar said that the "sarkari" mobile network will be much wider than the existing ones, spanning over 70 km. it will extend from simurali in the north to diamond harbour in the south and will also include haldia. subscribers will also be able to enjoy all-india roaming facility at a nominal charge. "the prices will be such that all other private operators will be forced to cut their prices," sikdar said. pointing out that the charges were eventually decided by trai, sikdar said that the incoming call charges in the dot mobile network will be eventually free. the outgoing call charges will also be competitive, he said. according to sikdar, 86 basic tracking stations (bts) are needed to service the area planned by dot. of these, only 22 bts have been made ready. "we could have launched the mobile service but i raised an objection. this is a competitive market and we cannot be lagging behind our competitors," sikdar said. according to the minister, the mobile services will be extended to 31 towns in the state. sikdar also announced that the limited mobile technolohy, using will, will also be introduced in west bengal by april 2002. this will have a shorter range of 20km. while the outgoing calls will be charged at rs 1.20 per three minutes, there will be no charge for incoming calls. citing the example of isdn service, sikdar pointed out that telecom charges were coming down very fast.