Srinagar, Nov 30: If all goes well you can soon watch your favourite channels with digital sound and high picture quality just by connecting your TV with landline. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is all set to launch the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service in the Valley by March 2011.
 Officials said the IPTV will facilitate the BSNL landline subscribers to enjoy many facilities ranging from best picture and sound quality to demanding favorite movies. “We have made all the preparations for launching the IPTV services in the Valley from March 2011. But this service will be exclusively for our landline subscribers,” BSNL Senior General Manager (Kashmir) Mahesh Shukla told Greater Kashmir.
 Pertinently the BSNL has a landline subscriber base of 80,000 in the Valley. “But only 10,000 of them have broadband facilities. For IPTV, the broadband facility is mandatory as it works on the same technology as internet. All the popular TV channels will be included in different packages. In IPTV, the channels are encoded and delivered to TV using a Smart Electronic Device. The IPTV includes video on demand services which is similar to watching films on DVD or VCD player. Importantly, the subscribers can use all the three services comprising telephone, broadband Internet and IPTV together,” Shukla said.
 Shukla said the IPTV facility will be available at a nominal cost and encourage the subscribers to retain the landlines whose base has been affected by the mobile boom.
 “I want to maintain that there is no parallel to landline as it has many advantages including better voice quality and unique facility like facsimile exchange or FAX. We are providing free SIM cards to the landline subscribers from which they can call to their respective landlines without any charge. Besides, from landlines one can now make call anywhere in the country on local call charges,’ he said. 
 On the complaints of weak BSNL cellular signals in some areas of the Valley, Shukla blamed the unscheduled power cuts and low voltage for the problem. “We have nearly 425 towers across the Valley feeding over two lakh postpaid and prepaid subscribers. During power cuts and low-voltage, our towers don’t work properly. We have kept a backup in the shape of generators but due to frequent strikes, curfew and other law and order problems its becomes difficult for us to refill fuel in them,” he said.
 Shukla minced no words in blaming the private cellular operators for lack of connectivity with BSNL and vice-versa. “Actually, the private operators have to pay us terminating charges for using our network. So they sometimes limit the number of calls through our network to save the money. Ironically, our subscribers suffer due to this practice,” he said.
 Acknowledging inconvenience to the subscribers while paying bills, Shukla said the BSNL will establish vendor machines across the city for receiving cheques. “Besides, the subscribers can pay bills with our franchisees across the Valley or through internet through credit or debit cards,” he said.
 Shukla took pride in that that the Government of India “reposed faith in the BSNL subscriber verification system.”
  Incidentally, the Home Ministry has asked all the private cellular operators to re-verify the antecedent of their pre-paid subscribers.  “We have established an internal verification system Telecom Enforcement Regulation and Maintenance (TERM) cell in Jammu. It randomly selects the forms of our subscribers and re-verifies the information,” he said.
 On the delay in launch of 3G services, Shukla said the BSNL was awaiting nod from the intelligence agencies. “Our Blackberry services have received tremendous response. I want to maintain that BSNL is committed to provide the latest communication facilities to the subscribers. However, due to situation in Kashmir, we are not able to include new services,” he maintained.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 30 Nov 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 1 Dec 2010 00:00:00 IST