BSNL seems to have woken up to the Reliance Jio challenge with a gusto. In what is touted to be India’s lowest data offer plan, the state-run enterprise is offering 2Gb of 3G data per day every month for a sum of Rs 339. This translatesto 56Gb of data every month. Besides the 2GB of data every day, the ‘339 BSNL recharge pack’ will also offer free unlimited calls within the BSNL network in addition to25 minutes of free calls to other networks. When you exceed the 25 free minutes, you will be charged 25 paise per minute for calling other networks. Note that the Rs 339 plan is valid for a period of 28 days.
The plan, which is available for subscription for a period of ninety days only, has been described by top BSNL officials as being the cheapest in the country. The only drawback that is apparent is that the plan offers 3G data in contrast to ultra low-cost 4G data currently on offer by Reliance Jio. However, data speed is network dependent and with BSNL being omnipresent across the country with excellent network presence, it is expected that its 3G services will be at par with the 4G speeds currently on offer by its privately-owned rivals.
You can avail of the 339 BSNL recharge pack without any prior membership or affiliation, unlike the Reliance Jio plans which you gave to subscribe to for Rs 99 a year and become a member of the Jio Prime facility. This means that users can avail of the offer simply by recharging online and without the hassles of having to figure out whether they are included in the offer or not. Many unlimited or big-data packs offered by Idea, Airtel and Vodafone are often not accessible to all consumers. BSNL is, in this sense, the first to break the barrier.
Data Wars
Reliance Jio offers 1GB of 4G data every day plus unlimited free calls to all networks till March 31. Starting April 1, Jio Prime subscribers will get unlimited data and calls till March 31, 2018, in return for aone-time registration fee of Rs. 99 besides Rs. 303 every month.
Vodafone too has entered the data wars with a Rs. 346 recharge pack which offers 1GB of data per day for 28 days alongside unlimited calls. Airtel has recently launched a Rs. 345 prepaid recharge pack which provides 1GB of data per day, with the data being divided into tow chunks of 500 MB each, one for the day and the other chunk to be used between12 am and 6 am. To avoid these shackles of time, a Rs. 549 Airtel recharge pack with 1GB data per day has also been provided.
