BSNL unlimited night call spurs connection demand

The nation-wide unlimited night calls from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd landlines since May 1 has spurred interest for its <g data-gr-id="26">tradional</g> wired telephones.

“In the last two months we have <g data-gr-id="27">seeen</g> growth of 30 per cent in registration for new connection compared to April 2015,” BSNL GM (Calcutta Telephones) responsible for fixed lines, K C Ghosh said.

He said demand for reconnection had also jumped by 20-25 <g data-gr-id="25">per cent</g> during this period. Reconnection lines are existing fixed connections which had been barred outgoing and incoming calls for non-payment of bills.

Ghosh said currently CalTel has 7.5 lakh fixed lines down from some 14 lakh connections it enjoyed in the best of its times during 2003-04.

Speaking about CalTel’s financial performance Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) GM finance (CalTel) S Kujur said there had been a positive trend after a few years of negative growth.

“There had been revenue growth of 2.15 per cent to Rs 675 crore in FY15’ up from Rs 661 crore registered in the previous fiscal,” he said.

CalTel’s <g data-gr-id="20">bottomline</g> continues to bleed with losses. Kujur said <g data-gr-id="19">FY15’</g> loss will be around Rs 360 crore down from Rs 398 crore loss in 2013-14.