Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state-run telecom company, are now facing plenty of issues with the satellite phone services. These devices were distributed about six years ago by the government so that fishermen can use them in emergencies during fishing activities. However, now, the costs of recharge have skyrocketed as per the fishermen, and then there are SIM replacement issues as well.
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According to a TNN report, B Muthukumar, secretary of deep sea fishing boat owners association said that when his SIM card was damaged, he was unable to replace it. This is on top of the rising costs of services. Back when these phones were provided by the government, the monthly recharge cost was Rs 1,800 with a talktime of Rs 800. Now the price has been hiked to Rs 3,965 and the talktime has been increased to Rs 1,800. The top up recharge costs Rs 4,131 while the talktime value has plummeted to Rs 360.
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What's more is that these phones only support 'outgoing' facility. Fishermen are clearly not happy with BSNL and its satellite phone services at the moment. The fishermen need these devices because they are a lifesaver in difficult situations. The satellite phones are important for deep sea because terrestrial networks don't exist there. In the future, we expect regular smartphones to support satellite connectivity for all the essential telecom services.
