Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is again getting rid of Blackout Days for 2021. The telco has made the same move over the last two years and to stay competitive in the industry, BSNL decided to do the same this year as well. For the unaware, mobile phone subscribers are generally charged as per base tariff on some particular days like New Year, Christmas, etc. On such days, telecom subscribers send a lot of SMSes and make a lot of voice calls to wish their family/friends. Telcos cash on such occasions to generate some revenue which is why these days are called 'Blackout Days.' Ever since the arrival of Reliance Jio, telcos are forced to remove blackout days as the Mukesh Ambani-led telco does not have any policy.
No Blackout Days on BSNL Network in 2021
At the beginning of every year, telecom operators announce the removal of Blackout Days. While there's no such official announcement from Airtel and Vodafone Idea this year, BSNL confirmed the removal. "In order to be competitive in the market with the other service providers, the competent authority has decided to dispense with the blackout days for the year 2021 under GSM mobile services," said BSNL in a release.
As mentioned above, Reliance Jio has no blackout days since its inception, so the other two private operators- Airtel and Vi also seem to have removed the blackout days permanently. Some of the Blackout Days in the past include New Year- January 1, Holi, Diwali, Christmas and New Year- December 31.
BSNL 4G Launch: When Can We Expect?
In other news, BSNL is looking to launch 4G services at the earliest in 2021. The much-awaited 4G services launch from BSNL has been delayed for several years. As per the latest development, BSNL had its disagreement with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The DoT asks BSNL to use locally-made 4G gear, whereas the telco says the 4G gear from local OEMs is unproven and the tender price could be on the costlier side.
Launching 4G services will allow BSNL to compete with private telcos in a better way. BSNL is the only telecom operator that is providing competitive plans in both the prepaid and postpaid segment. For the unaware, BSNL is still the only telco to offer 2GB data per day under Rs 200. After the latest tariff hike, Reliance Jio also increased tariff prices. The next round of tariff hike in the telecom industry is expected to happen in the coming weeks.
