I-Speed Connect: BSNL’s optic fibre network includes city’s ‘blacklisted’ areas, boon for kids’ online study

The move by BSNL has now come handy for school children and techies in remote areas of north Chennai to attend online classes and adopt better to the work from home concept.

According to BSNL officials, the government telecom firm is slowly building a high-speed internet customer base in pockets of labour-dominated Pulianthope, Pattalam, Otteri and Choolai. The response from the commercial pockets of central Chennai is also encouraging as the rates of BSNL are much cheaper when compared to other private telecom companies and there are no hidden charges, the source added.

Earlier this month, the BSNL, in a circular, had also advised the chief general managers to help customers convert their landline into the fibre-to-home connections without changing the existing landline number. Chennai BSNL had also reached out to the cable TV operators to become vendors of BSNL promoting optical fibre for home connections, sources said.

“I have two kids, who were finding it difficult to attend online classes as the mobile internet was often weak and my brother was asked to work from home. I first tried private telecom players, but none showed any interest, but BSNL was ready to provide high-speed internet,” said homemaker C Nagamani of Asirvathapuram, Pulianthope. The internet is of good speed and now many relatives and neighbours have also subscribed to BSNL in our area in the past one month, she added.

“There was no optical fibre cable internet service in several pockets of north Chennai and a few telecom advisory members along with existing BSNL customers raised the issue. Senior officials immediately ordered the field staff to invest on the optical line terminator facility focusing on north Chennai,” V Sathiabalan, former telecom advisory committee member told DT Next.

“The public will be glad if the fibre to home connections is also covered by BSNL for housing board tenements located across north Chennai,” he added.