Though MTNL had planned introduction of cellular phones about two years back, it has come clear of the legal hurdles that followed only in October, the minister said at the release of MTNL telephone directory for Mumbai.The government would also set up "sanchar dhabas" in all the villages with Internet connection. As a first step, the dhabas would be set up in all the districts by next March, he said.

The government has also chalked out an ambitious blueprint for providing eight crore new telephone connections by 2005 and another 15 crore in the next five years, he added.

In a bid to improve services, linemen would be provided with pagers so that they can save time in attending to the complaints without returning to the office after rectifying every fault, he said. Wireless in local loop (WLL) services will be introduced across the country immediately after the testing of the technical aspects are over by January-end, he added.

Considering the importance of telephone directory for visitors and business promotion activities, MTNL would publish the directory every two years, with supplements of changed numbers annually, he said.