To retain the losing market share, state-run BSNL has stepped up the game in the broadband sector. BSNL will be offering new broadband plans starting October 1, 2020, in select cities with starting prices of Rs 449. Yes, the new Bharat Fiber plans are directly aimed at the revised JioFiber plans which now start at Rs 399. As per a press release accessed by TelecomTalk, BSNL will start offering four broadband plans priced at Rs 449, Rs 799, Rs 999 and Rs 1,499. BSNL is introducing these plans on a promotional basis, meaning they will be valid for 90 days from October 1, after which the ISP will either kill them or extend the availability. Another thing worth noting is that BSNL will offer these Bharat Fiber plans only in cities/areas 'where challenges from the competitors exist.'
BSNL Fibre Basic Broadband Plan at Rs 449: Benefits Detailed
Starting with the Rs 449 broadband plan, it is named as 'Fibre Basic,' and offers a user 30 Mbps speeds up to 3.3TB or 3300GB. After the FUP limit, speeds will be reduced to 2 Mbps. This plan is valid across all the circles except Andaman & Nicobar circle. Do make a note that BSNL users opting this plan will also get unlimited voice calling benefit to any network within India.
BSNL Fibre Value Broadband Plan at Rs 799: Benefits Detailed
Second on the list is BSNL Fibre Value plan that costs Rs 799 per month and offers 100 Mbps speeds till 3300GB or 3.3TB. Users also get free access to landline calling and post-FUP speeds of 2 Mbps. BSNL is not offering any long-term plan options for the newly introduced plans. The minimum hire period for every plan is one month.
BSNL Fibre Premium Broadband Plan at Rs 999: Benefits Detailed
As the price of the plan itself says, the BSNL Fibre Premium plan at Rs 999 takes on the JioFiber plan of Rs 999. BSNL users will get speeds of 200 Mbps up to 3.3TB and after FUP speeds of 2 Mbps which is underwhelming. However, JioFiber after FUP speeds still stays at 1 Mbps which is also underwhelming. Again, BSNL is not offering any long-term option for this plan and the subscribers also get unlimited voice calling benefit.
BSNL Fibre Ultra Broadband Plan at Rs 1,499: Benefits Detailed
Lastly, we have the BSNL Fibre Ultra broadband plan that costs Rs 1,499 per month and also comes with 300 Mbps speeds. This is the most premium offering from BSNL ever as the company is currently offering maximum speeds of 200 Mbps in several cities. It will be interesting to see the speeds offered by this plan. In recent times, we have seen BSNL removing the 200 Mbps broadband plan in several cities.
The 300 Mbps has a different 4000GB or 4TB FUP limit, 4 Mbps after FUP speeds and also comes with unlimited calling benefit. And yes, the BSNL Fibre Premium and Fibre Ultra plans will also offer Disney+ Hotstar Premium membership. If a customer opts out from the two plans, the OTT subscription will also be cancelled, unless if he/she chooses to migrate to SuperStar300 and SuperStar 500 broadband plans.
As mentioned above, BSNL will start offering the four plans in several cities starting October 1, 2020. And if the company has no competition in a particular circle or city, these plans will not be offered. For the unaware, BSNL is the leading broadband service provider in India with wide-coverage compared to the likes of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. The prices mentioned above are excluding taxes.
