Chakravarty in Calcutta on Monday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta, Sept. 8: BSNL will invest Rs 499 crore this fiscal in its city operations to upgrade technology and develop infrastructure.

The company will also invest around Rs 300 crore to roll out 3G services in the eastern region in the first phase.

“We will be investing substantially not only to improve services but also to roll out 3G services by the year-end,” said S.K. Chakravarty, chief general manager, Calcutta Telephones.

Internet and video-conferencing facilities will be the major driver for 3G services, Chakravarty said.

According to Chakravarty, Internet through mobile is a quicker way to provide connectivity.

However there has been no discussion yet on the price of 3G services.

“With mobile phones, we were late by six years but with 3G, we will be the first one to launch the service. At the circle head meeting to be held on September 30, 3G rollout and its modalities will be discussed,” Chakravarty said.

While 3G services will be made available in Calcutta by December, all the district headquarters of Bengal are expected to roll out the service by the end of this fiscal.

At present, BSNL has 11 lakh mobile subscribers, 1.55 lakh broadband customers and 13.7 lakh landline users.

Introduction of datacards will be BSNL’s new offer before the festive season.