Reliance Jio vs BSNL Unlimited BB249: State-run carrier offers broadband for Re. 1 per GB to beat Jio

Reliance Jio has waged a price war in the long-dormant telecom industry by launching its affordable data plans, but the incumbent rivals are not going to simply sit and watch. After Vodafone stepped up its game by offering 30 percent off on 4G data plans, BSNL has come forward with a new offer for wireline broadband services that works out much cheaper than Jio's Rs. 50 per GB plan.

BSNL's "Experience Unlimited BB 249" broadband plan is better than Jio in terms that it does not have any limit on how much data consumers can use and the speed will remain the same throughout the month. The company's chairman and MD Anupam Shrivastava said in a statement that consumers will get reliable speeds at 2Mbps under its new plan.

"BSNL is going to launch a very cost-effective and affordable promotional unlimited Broadband plan 'Experience Unlimited BB 249' from September 9, 2016," the telecom PSU said in a statement on Friday, PTI reported.

At Rs. 249 per month, with no speed cap or limit, BSNL's broadband offer is a steal. But it cannot be compared to Jio's services as it is not mobile. In terms of cost, if the consumer uses the plan continuously for a month, per GB of data will cost as low as Re. 1, the company said in a statement, which is exceptionally cheap compared to any other broadband service provider.

But there's a catch. BSNL is offering this unlimited broadband offer only for six months, after which the customer must choose one of the regular plans.

State-run BSNL's new broadband plan comes just a day after Jio announced its tariffs. Jio surprised us all by making voice calls and roaming free across India and offering low-priced mobile data. The company also came under fire after Indian PM Narendra Modi campaigned for Jio advertisements on newspapers and television.

Jio's commercial launch is set for December 31, 2016, which is also when the free unlimited data offer comes to an end. Jio's tariffs start at Rs. 149 per month for 300MB and goes up to Rs. 4,999 for 75GB of high-speed 4G data.