BSNL to set up video conferencing centers at 200 locations in 2013

Telecom Lead India: Mobile service provider BSNL is planning to set up video conferencing centers at 200 locations in 2013.

The new public video conferencing centers across the country will be based on revenue share model. BSNL’s target is to complete the project in the first half of 2013.

(source: flashnewstoday)

BSNL Chairman and Managing Director RK Upadhyay that the video conferencing centers will be open for everybody for various kinds of activities such as meetings, training sessions etc, Times of India reported.

Among other new projects, video conferencing is one of the main tools to bring in additional revenues for the struggling telecom major.

BSNL is likely to report 9 percent decrease in its revenues for the fiscal 2012-13 at Rs 25,384 crore against Rs 27,944 crore during 2011-12. For the year-ended March 2012, the state-run BSNL had recorded losses of Rs 8,851 crore.

BSNL registered a loss of about Rs 8,850.70 crore in 2011-12 mainly due to regulatory expenses and non-receipt of funds for its rural landline operations.

Earlier, BSNL said that its VVOIP service will cost 40 paise per minute for audio calls and Rs 2 per minute for video calls within the country. International calls will be cost effective. There will be no video calls to international destinations. A call to US and China will cost Rs 1.20 per minute, while to the UK it will cost Rs 1.20 per minute on landline and Rs 7.20 on mobile.

BSNL will invite expression of interest in a week for this project. BSNL will provide space and its telecom resources for setting up this VC centers to the selected vendor.

The company is also looking to set up Wi-Fi hotspots in the country where it will provide space in its offices and telecom resources.

Meanwhile, Nefsis Video Conferencing said announced that 90 percent of customers opt for its cloud-based offering versus on-premise alternatives. This development is significant because in 2008, only
50 percent customers were looking for cloud based offerings in 2008.

There is a continuing shift from premise-based infrastructure to cloud-based video conferencing solutions among business customers.

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