Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has been on a roll after receiving its relief package from the government. The state-led telecom operator has been bullish to provide internet connectivity in the rural region and is perhaps the only telecom operator in the country which is putting efforts in these far off areas. Firstly, BSNL expanded fibre connectivity into the interior villages using BharatNet which aims to connect 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats in India, a lot of which have already been connected. But on Wednesday, BSNL launched a new service which will also help villages in achieving internet connectivity and this service is called Bharat Air Fibre. Now although the name of the service resembles the fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service by BSNL known as Bharat Fibre, there are some major differences between the two. While the BharatFibre uses wired technology to provide broadband service to the subscribers in many regions of the country, the Bharat Air Fibre service would be wireless. Here is what you need to know about the Bharat Air Fibre service.
BSNL Air Fibre Technology Explained
BSNL Director, Vivek Banzal said about this new launch, “We have launched Bharat AirFibre on the airwaves in the free spectrum band primarily in rural areas where there is no interference.” This informs us that the new Bharat Air Fibre service will be launched on the unlicensed spectrum, which has not been licensed to any entity. This unlicensed spectrum would need very less interference so that the quality of relay is better for the subscribers. Hence, the technology would be deployed in villages where there is very less disturbance for these airwaves. Also, BSNL has informed that it would be using line-of-sight radio waves to deploy this technology and to provide call-centre services in these villages. The absence of noise creating devices like Wi-Fi routers, microwave oven and other items in the village will make it possible for the Bharat Air Fibre service to work in these areas.
BSNL Providing Triple Play Services with Air Fibre
Another thing to note here is that BSNL will be providing triple-play services with the Air Fibre connection. This means that the subscribers getting a BSNL Air Fibre connection will not only get calling and internet services, but they would also get TV services as well. Currently, BSNL has partnered up with Yupp TV, which is a content provider service working in the South Asia region. In partnership with Yupp TV, BSNL would be offering triple-play services to the users with content streaming besides the usual broadband and calling feature.
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BSNL Also Using BharatNet to Connect Villages
With the deployment of BSNL Air Fibre, the telecom operator is also seeking to empower the village entrepreneurs as well. These entrepreneurs will be able to deploy the Air Fibre in their village for Rs 50,000 investment, and then the equipment cost for installation for the subscribers would be around Rs 3,000. The monthly plans for BSNL Bharat Fibre would start at Rs 500 per month. Not only this, but BSNL has announced that it plans to gain as many as 1 lakh subscribers by the FY21 through BSNL Bharat Air Fibre. It is also worth noting that out of 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats which BSNL wants to connect through BharatNet, the telecom operator has already reached 1.3 lakh Gram Panchayats. To help the population in villages get better communication service and calling facility, BSNL has also launched Wings VoIP service for the subscribers.
