Reliance Jio's GigaFiber high-speed FTTH broadband still hasn't been rolled out commercially, leaving several Indians in anticipation of the disruptive service. The company, which is credited with bringing the much-needed change to the telecom sector, is expected to bring the same level of disruption to the home broadband market, making Jio GigaFiber one of the most anticipated launches this year.
While thousands of Indians eagerly wait for Jio GigaFiber's release, incumbents are fearful of how to prevent another telecom-debacle, which resulted in rivals losing millions of users to Reliance Jio. As a result, we've seen Airtel, ACT Fibernet and even BSNL revisit their broadband plans and packages to offer better value to users and a new plan from the state-run provider, BSNL, is targeting data hoggers of the country.
BSNL's Bharat Fiber programme, which was introduced a few days ago to rival Jio GigaFiber, welcomed a new offer that users cannot refuse. BSNL is offering 40GB daily data limit at 100Mbps speeds for a whole month at an attractive price point of Rs 2,499. If the user exhausts the 40GB limit in a day, the speed will be throttled to 2Mbps under fair usage policy.
In addition to that, BSNL is running an offer to those who choose this plan for a period of 6 or 12 months. There is a 25 percent cashback scheme on the new broadband plan and it is valid only till February 28. If the customer choose to pay for 6 months, the total cashback will be around Rs 3,700 and for 12 months, the savings will be Rs 7,400. This is quite a deal for those who want a long-term broadband plan and a good way for BSNL to keep its users on the network without losing to rivals.
Both the daily data limits and attractive price plans are compelling enough reasons for you to upgrade, but make sure your usage is as high as 40GB to make this plan worthwhile. Some plans come with 40GB monthly data limit and the fact that BSNL is offering it every day for 30 days means it is for serious data hoggers.
Meanwhile, Reliance Jio is also on the brisk of rolling out its GigaFiber service across India. Reports put the commercial launch of Jio GigaFiber somewhere in March, so if you are planning to switch from BSNL to Jio in the future, the long-term plan, as benefitting as it may be, might not be such a good idea.
