Government assures good telecom connectivity in border areas of J&K

Government today said all efforts would be made to provide the best possible telecom connectivity to people living in border areas of the state.

"It is our priority to provide the best connectivity to the brave people living in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir," Union Minister of State for Telecommunication and Information Technology, Sachin Pilot, told reporters.

He was here to launch video services over BSNL fixed telephone lines in the state.

Pilot earlier reviewed the connectivity related issues in border areas of the state at a meeting attended by officials from state government, Ministry of Home Affairs, BSNL, Department of Telecom and National Informatics Centre (NIC).

"BSNL would regularly come up with new offerings for the people of Jammu and Kashmir," the minister said.

He said BSNL plans to increase its presence in the state and spend Rs. 55 crore on expansion of the network and services during the current financial year.

Pilot said the company plans to erect 150 new mobile towers this year as against 55 towers installed in the state last year.

The BSNL which has more than 1,100 mobile towers in the state at the moment, plans to install 108 wimax towers in the state during the current fiscal, he added.

The minister said village public telephone will soon reach the 100 per cent mark as work is going on to cover the remaining 54 villages in the state.

"At present, 6363 villages out of 6417 inhabited villages in the state are covered under village public telephony," he added.

Stating that 580 satellite phones are operational in the state for coordination of disaster management efforts, Pilot said 267 more will be added during this fiscal.