Rural Indians to Soon Make Their First Phone Call
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, Jul 25, 2008

Telecom equipment vendor VNL has selected the Blueslice ngHLR 3000 for its GSM solution.

Blueslice's next generation Home Location Register (HLR) will help ensure that VNL's WorldGSM solution can provide end-to-end service for India's mobile operators.

According to a press release, VNL's solar-powered WorldGSM system is designed to enable operators to provide affordable telephone services to low-ARPU, low-density communities around the world.

With the highest subscriber density and scalability, up to 20 million subscribers per cabinet, service providers are able to grow their markets without investing in expensive legacy equipment, the release said. This small footprint significantly reduces OPEX costs.
Said Stephan Ouaknine, president and CEO of Blueslice Networks, "The WorldGSM solution, which VNL has tested with our ngHLR 3000, offers a profitable advantage to mobile operators extending into rural India. Millions will have the opportunity to become part of the global community, which otherwise would have been out of reach."

"Blueslice's high density ngHLR 3000 is a perfect fit with our low cost, low power, self-deploying and zero-maintenance WorldGSM," said Krishna Sirohi, CTO of VNL.

Meanwhile, the telecom commission has decided to waive license fee on rural landline telephones in an effort to promote telephone use in rural areas. The decision is also intended to give a boost to e-governance through provision of more broadband services in villages, thus reducing the digital divide. The waiver will amount to Rs 200 crore per year.

The aim is to achieve rural teledensity of 25 % by means of 200 million rural connections at the end of the 11th Plan. The rural teledensity stood at 8 per cent as on December 31, 2007.


Related Links:

Affordable Services must for Rural Telephony