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BSNL launches nationwide cell service, CellOne

India's state-owned telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd launched a nationwide mobile phone service on Monday, aiming to grab share of a market expected to be one of the world's fastest growing this decade.

Launching the public sector basic telephony service provider's mobile services, Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan said BSNL's pre-paid cellular services would be called 'Ex-Cell'.

BSNL officials told a news conference that the company was hoping to attract 2.5 million customers through its 'Cell One' brand by the end of the first year of operations.

The service will cover 350 cities initially, and rolled out to the rest of the country by December 2003.

India's $5.0-billion mobile phone sector, divided into 22 circles or zones, has eight million users spread across about 1,500 cities and more than 60,000 villages.

BSNL, formed in October 2000 after the government corporatised the state-owned telecom department, provides fixed-line telephone services across India except in the two main cities of New Delhi and Mumbai.

A monopoly in fixed-line services until a few years ago, it is now venturing into mobile phones services where it will compete with three other private companies in most telecom zones.

BSNL also launched its Internet telephony services under the brand name 'WebFone.'

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