In a bid to create employment opportunities and bridge the digital divide while enhancing information technology adoption in semi-urban and rural areas, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) Karnataka circle today announced the expansion of its e-PCO facility to the Maysore city and semi urban areas.
Initially BSNL e-PCO concept was launched in 2008-09 in Bangalore, Kodage and Maysore districts in partnership with Intel, BSNL- Karnataka PCO Association, and ItzCash.
The e-PCO provides multiple online services to citizens, including railway, airline and bus ticket booking, utility bill payment, Internet browsing and chat facility, insurance and banking, online transactions such as DTH television subscription and shopping and video communication facility, among others.The initiative would allow the PCO to provide a host of services to its neighboring locality and enable the operators to earn additional revenue.
Speaking on the expansion of of e-PCO services, Mr P. Raghavan, CGM, Karnataka Circle, said, “BSNL Karnataka has launched several initiatives to increase PCO penetration in the circle and e-PCO programme is one such initiative where broadband connection is extended by BSNL to the existing PCOs to provide the operators with an alternative revenue option.”
Mr. S V Rajendra President of the association said "the concept was a great opportunity to take broadband to rural India. The e-PCO also offered a good revenue model"
