Telecom Lead India: BSNL is planning introduce video
calling services and free call transfer from mobile phones by end of this
financial year.
The state run telecom company will invest around Rs 400
crore and make use of Next Generation Network technology to transform its
landline services.
BSNL Chairman and Managing Director R K Upadhyay said the
company has started the process of converting all its exchanges in to NGN
exchanges. This will bring to landlines all facilities that are currently
available on mobile phones like video calling, call transfer, directory among
others.
There are total of 37,639 exchanges out of which 30,008
exchanges are based on technology from C-DoT and rest from imported technology.
Meanwhile, BSNL and Indian Postal Department is working
on innovating money orders.
The money orders can be disbursed via an SMS. Both the companies
have completed trials and the services are expected to be launched soon.
BSNL has developed a customized application to facilitate
money order service to 155,000 post offices across India. BSNL is the
technology enabler and this service will remain operator neutral.
The government initially chose Bihar and Punjab to
initiate the service since a lot of immigrant workers hail from these states.
Mobile money orders would be a good initiative to help
immigrant workers who remit money to their home states.
The project will empower designated post offices with
mobile devices that have pre-embedded the application. While transferring, the
remittance senders’ need to furnish basic details that includes receivers’
mobile number.
The receiver will get a 16-digit transaction code via SMS
from which money can be claimed from a local post office. The government has
planned to allow instant money order service up to Rs. 50,000.
