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On
Fire Again
Global
oil prices are flaring and a hike in diesel, LPG and kerosene prices is
imminent. Here's why you will pay more than rising global prices warrant.
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Dot
and Dotcom
For
most ministers, it's "Sabeer who?" for the Hotmail man Sabeer
Bhatia.
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Forked
Tongue
Buddhadeb
Bhattacharya's tete-a-tete with S.S. Ray on a Calcutta bound flight from
Delhi last week.
More...
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STRENGTH
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25
million subscribers, putting it in the same league with China Telecom
and France Telecom in terms of the number of users.
------------------- Operating income of over Rs 21,000 crore and
profit of Rs 12,000 crore, making it among the highest revenue earning
Indian corporations.
------------------- Optical fibre network of 1,81,582 route km,
among the longest in the world, with one lakh kilometre to be added
this fiscal.
------------------- Microwave network of 80,536 km, providing a
platform capable of carrying cellular service to distant villages
and remote areas.
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WEAKNESS
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In
a competitive market, BSNL's revenue will drop with tariff coming
down and call volumes will not grow to match the fall in rates.
-------------------------- Village Public Telephone (VPT) programme,
to which BSNL must stay
committed, will continue to be a drag on its growth.
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A bloated staff of 3.9 lakh, mostly under-qualified technicians
unable to respond to technology shifts, will put pressure on the
bottom line.
-------------------------- Politicians can hire and fire directors
and managers, so corporatisation will not automatically bring in
commercial flexibility.
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Milestones
to cross for BSNL
2000: Improve
customer care service, change HRD policy.
2001:
Launch cellular service with GSM technology in all but two circles.
2002:
Provide high-speed backbone for Internet service.
2005:
Develop multimedia capabilities with tele-education and tele-medicine.
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 Web
Exclusives |
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DESPATCHES |
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Targeting offensive and misleading commercials, vigilant viewers are now
setting ethical bounds for the ad industry. INDIA TODAY Principal Correspondent
Farah Baria looks at the new set of dos and don'ts in
Despatches.
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If
the markets don’t recover in the next 48 hours expect the worst, says
V Shankar Aiyar in 
