BSNL 4G Services To Soon Roll Out Pan-India As DoT Approves Spectrum Acquisition, Equity Infusion

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited or as it is popularly known as BSNL is all set to launch 4G services on a pan-India level. Regarding this, the state-owned telecom provider had already submitted a detailed report to get spectrum and an infusion of equity from the government.

BSNL’s Proposal:

BSNL wanted Rs. 13,885 crores worth of spectrum and an equity infusion of Rs. 6,652 crores in order to compensate for the cost through revenue for the time period of 10 years.

“The telecom department has accepted our proposal and is in the process to allow spectrum in the 2100 Mhz band to run 4G services,” according to BSNL Chairman’s Anupam Shrivastava. He added that “We have already rolled out 4G in Kerala and Karnataka on a pilot basis and can concurrently run 3G and 4G services if an additional 5 Mhz is allocated in the 2100Mhz band.”

On the other hand, a top official from BSNL also added that BSNL will launch LTE services as well in the near future.

Fast-Tracking The Rollout:

According to reports, the telecom minister has fast-tracked the entire rollout process and has fixed the timeline at just 80days. The telecom minister Manoj Sinha wants the state-owned telecom company to get access to the air-waves on priority.

In fact, there are also rumors that the state-owned telecom company is facing hurdles set by the government when on the other hand, private players such as Reliance Jio are ruling the roost when they entered the 4G arena in September 2016.

BSNL’s FTTH Plans:

In additional news, ever since Reliance Jio launched its offer for FTTH (Fiber to the Home) plans with great data and speed for customers, telecom giants like BSNL and Airtel have begun an overhaul of their plans. As per the state-run BSNL, it has increased its Fair Usage Policy (FUP), data limit and overall download speed.

BSNL’s select FTTH plans:

The company’s revised FTTP plans stand at Rs. 3,999, Rs. 5,000, Rs. 9,999 and Rs. 16,999. Beginning with Rs. 3,999 monthly plan, the users can now avail 500GB of FUP data with a download speed up to 50Mbps. Since this plan is unlimited, hence, even after the exhaustion of FUP, users still have the access to the internet at a reduced speed of 4Mbps. This plan was earlier offered at 300GB data at 20Mbps speed.

Next is BSNL’s Fibro Combo ULD 5,999 pack (Rs. 5999), where 1000GB of data will be offered to customers with a speed of 60Mbps. This replaces the previous 400GB data cap with 30Mbps speed. After the exhaustion of FUP, the users can still use the internet with 4Mbps speed for the rest of the month.

In the Fibro Combo ULD of Rs. 9,999, users can get 2TB of data with 80Mbps speed and in the Rs. 16999, users get 3TB of data at the speed of 100Mbps. After the data limit has been crossed, the Rs. 9,999 plan offers the internet speed of 6Mbps and Rs. 16,999 plan offers 4Mbps. These two plans previously were offered at 600BG FUP limit with 50Mbps speed for Rs. 9,999; and 800GB of FUP at 100Mbps for Rs. 16,999.

Looking at these changes, Airtel too has joined the bandwagon, and has gone ahead and eliminated its FUP from its broadband plans for its users in various sectors. However, looking at the competition, the company is expected to make similar changes in other regions too. – My Smart Price