MTNL plans to expand its mobile phone capacity

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) plans to roll out four lakh new GSM lines in Mumbai and Delhi for its ‘Dolphin’ cellular service by October 15.

‘‘A new switch is being installed due to a huge demand and this will help in offering GPRS, MMS and polyphonic ringtones among others and the system can also be upgraded to edge,’’ said executive director R.L. Dube.

‘‘Another 6 lakh lines will be added to the same by March 2005. We are also planning to upgrade the switch to the EDGE technology from the present GPRS,’’ he added. He said the total GSM line in Delhi is expected to go up to 18 lakh by next year.

MTNL also plans to increase the number of base tower stations.