The state-owned telecommunication company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), took to Twitter to roll out the self-professed 'most economic broadband' plan in the country at Rs 491. It will offer 20GB data per day for 30 days at 20 Mbps. Subscribers will also gain access to unlimited voice calls to any network. NK Mehta, a member on BSNL's board, said, "BSNL is committed to offer high quality, most affordable and data services which meets everyone's expectations." BSNL's plan 491 is already available across their customer service centers, franchises, and retailers.
Addressing Reliance Industries 41st Annual General Meeting, today, Isha Ambani, daughter of Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, announced the launch of Jio GigaFiber, its optical fiber-based broadband service. It will be rolled out in 1,100 cities of India on 15th August and will provide broadband speeds of up to 1 Gbps.
Since the introduction of Reliance Jio two years ago, the nation has witnessed an ongoing tariff war between major mobile carriers. Idea and Vodafone have also initiated a merger to take on the competition from incumbents. Now, with Jio entering the broadband space, the war might shift from mobile to broadband segment; and BSNL, with its latest offerings, might possibly be playing a forehand to stay ahead in the game.
In June, BSNL introduced two new FTTH (Fiber to the Home) plans at Rs 777 and Rs 1,277. The Rs 777 plan offers 500 GB monthly data at 50 Mbps, while the Rs 1277 plan offers 750 GB monthly data at 100 Mbps.
Despite BSNL and Bharti Airtel being the current leaders in India's broadband market, they face angst about their customers switching to JioGigaFiber once it is made commercially available. This might not be an unjust supposition, given Jio's track record of disrupting markets.