Bangalore: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Mobile Network in Karnataka, under the "Student Power Scheme", has come out with a special offer to cater to the needs of student community and help the parents also be in touch with their children as and when required, a top official of BSNL said.

The scheme, which can be availed by students from eighth standard onwards, is being offered at a lowest rental of Rs 99 per month, cheapest pulse rate of 15 seconds (55 Paise per 15 seconds) and SMS charges Re 0.60 per message, B R Baliga, Principal General Manager, Bangalore Telecom district told reporters in Bangalore on October 7.

The scheme is valid for one year, after which the connection will be shifted to Plan 225. While no security deposit is needed if STD facility is not required, in case one wants to avail STD, a deposit of Rs 2,000 has to be paid, Farooq Ameen, General Mobile Services, Bangalore said.

BSNL mobile network in Karnataka has an installed capacity of 3.4 lakh connections and has almost 3 lakh working connections. "We plan to release 20,000 pre-paid connections by Oct 15 and also 20,000 post-paid connections soon," he said.

"By March 2004, we propose to add another 1.4 lakh connections," he said.

At present there are 369 transmitting stations in Karnataka including 100 in Bangalore. "We plan to augment the number to 129 in Bangalore by Nov 15," Ameen said.

PTI