BSNL is not losing the battle to private telcos this time, at least in the tariffs department. The state-run PSU did not hike the tariff prices like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio did. This essentially means the telco is still offering the good-old prepaid plans to the customers. BSNL's unlimited plans start at just Rs 108 and they go all the way up to Rs 1,999. BSNL's yearly plan of Rs 1,699 is now providing 3GB data per day as part of the company's extra data offer which it's running till December 31. Till November 30, BSNL offered extra 60 days validity with the Rs 1,699 plan, however, the offer has now ended and the plan's validity is 365 days from the date of recharge. On the whole, BSNL is shipping 1095GB data benefit with its popular yearly plan of Rs 1,699.
BSNL Rs 1,699 Prepaid Plan Now Offering 1095GB Data for One Year
BSNL is currently the fourth largest telecom operator in India with over 120 million subscribers under its belt. It's sitting below Bharti Airtel which has over 280 million customers. All the top three private telcos increased prepaid tariff prices a few days ago, but BSNL did not follow the same route. While BSNL is still evaluating the prepaid tariff hike, customers can continue recharging the current prepaid plans, which are the best ones in the industry right now after the price hike from private operators.
BSNL's Rs 1,699 yearly prepaid plan is now shipping with a total data benefit of 1095GB data and the validity of the plan is 365 days. Other benefits of this plan include unlimited voice calling capped at 250 minutes per day and 100 SMSes per day for the entire validity period. The plan also offers Personalised Ringback Tone benefit for two months.
Taking in detail about the data benefit, the Rs 1,699 offers 3GB daily data which totals to 1095GB. BSNL usually offers just 2GB daily data with this plan, however, as part of its extra data offer, the plan comes with 1GB extra data on top of the usual 2GB data per day benefit. Until November 30, the same plan offered 3.5GB data per day.
BSNL Brings Back Rs 1,999 Yearly Prepaid Plan
Besides the Rs 1,699 prepaid offering, BSNL also brought back the Rs 1,999 annual plan very recently, but it's being introduced only in Chennai & Tamil Nadu telecom circles for now. The Rs 1,999 plan from BSNL offers 3GB data per day, 250 minutes voice calls every day and 100 SMSes per day for 365 days. Additionally, BSNL is also providing SonyLIV subscription with this plan and it will be valid for the entire duration of the pack.
After the price hike, the yearly prepaid plans of Airtel and Vodafone Idea are priced at Rs 2,498 and Rs 2,499, respectively, whereas Reliance Jio is charging Rs 2,199 from the customers. The plans from Vodafone Idea and Airtel come with unlimited voice calling without any FUP limit, 1.5GB data per day and 100 SMSes per day for 365 days. Reliance Jio is also providing the same benefits, but the company has FUP limit on off-net voice calling and the limit is 12,000 minutes for the entire validity period.
Even if BSNL hikes the tariff prices, we're expecting the government-owned PSU to stay ahead of the competition at least in the benefits and validity department. BSNL may announce prepaid tariff hike in the next couple of weeks and the new plans might go effective from January 1.
