Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on Wednesday said that the new users joining the state-run operator till January 31, 2021, will be offered SIM card for no additional charge. The development was shared by the BSNL Tamil Nadu Circle on its web portal. The state-run operator also highlighted that the users joining the BSNL network through mobile number portability (MNP) would also be covered under the scheme. In 2020, the operator consistently rolled out the complimentary SIM card scheme on multiple periods with the latest promotional period was initially said to be between December 17, 2020 to January 1, 2021.
BSNL SIM Card for No Additional Charge Scheme Extended Till January 31
However, the operator on Wednesday said that the SIM card for no additional charge scheme has now been extended till January 31, 2021. Under the scheme, the operator is said to offer SIM card worth Rs 20 to all new users whose First Recharge (FRC) is more than Rs 100.
It has to be noted that the operator in the recent months has maintained a consistent user base as compared to its rival operators. While Bharti Airtel is said to have added over 5 million active users since March, 2020, and Vodafone is said to have lost the most users in the same period, BSNL comparatively has a stable user base. In the past three months, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data highlights that the operator gained 214,912 users in August and 78,454 users in September. However, the operator in October registered a net decline of 10,208 users.
BSNL Modifies Multiple Prepaid Vouchers Effective from December 30
Meanwhile, BSNL has also said that it will hike the price of its Plan Voucher (PV) 186 to Rs 199 effective from January 1, 2021. The PV 186 offers users 250 daily local and STD minutes to any network across India along with 100 SMS per day and 2GB daily data. The users subscribed to the PV 186 will have the speeds reduced to 80 Kbps upon reaching the daily data limit. While the PV 186 initially carried a 28 day validity, the operator with the price revision has increased the validity of the pack to 30 days.
Similarly, the operator has also marginally increased the price of its Special Tariff Voucher (STV) from Rs 199 to Rs 201 effective from December 30, 2020.
