Rural pockets all set to experience communication

Expressbuzz, Feb 8, 2009

BHUBANESWAR: There may not be any proper road network, electricity or the modern communication facilities to this village, but Hira Pradhan of Balipanka village under Berhampur telecom district is lucky to have the first digital satellite public telephone (DSPT) connection of the State.

Meant to connect the inaccessible rural pockets, which are out of reach of the common telephone network, DSPT may revolutionise communication as it works through satellite and highly subsidised by the Centre.

In fact, many telecom districts or secondary switching areas (SSAs) under Orissa Telecom Circle are to be covered under the DSPT umbrella where communication is a major problem, says Controller of Communication Accounts (CCA), Prahlad Singh adding apart from the 99 DSPT connections completed by December 31 in Ganjam and Gajapati districts, the State has 230 installations so far.

Distribution-wise, the DSPT telephones were found as follows: Berhampur SSA 99, Bhawanipatna 42, Koraput 23, Phulbani 6 and Rourkela 58. While the State is all set to get 1,037 such facilities (including the existing 230 connections), the largest chunk of the modern facility would go to Phulbani SSA, informs Joint-CCA Kashinath Jha.

‘‘In fact, Phulbani will have 407 DSPTs as from communication point of view, it is the most backward region of the State’’ says Jha adding the geographical location and distribution of landmass making it more difficult to access.

Also all DSPTs are powered by solar panels, so when there is no power or if the village is not electrified, there would be no problem in the communication process, Jha adds.

As the CCA office controls the fund created out of part of the spectrum money received from various telecom operators, the fund is used in subsidising such services and hence BSNL is given Rs 1 lakh for each functional DSPT. Also it receives Rs 6,000 to Rs 14,000 per annum for their maintenance, CCA office sources said.

However, there are many hurdles on the way. The Left-wing extremist groups are not happy with people receiving these modern communication system. At many places, the villages are asked to return the sets. But, despite these threats, they are brave enough to go for it and continue their support.