» BSNL

Aircel and BSNL to share network towers

yogen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:05:08 +0000

This is a first of its kind deal between a public and private telecom company. Aircel is the first telecom operator to sign a passive infrastructure sharing agreement with the publically owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

Mr Gurdeep Singh, COO, Aircel, said, “This is a historic moment for the company. Aircel will now have access to strategically located sites across BSNL’s 21 circles (excluding Mumbai & Delhi). Leveraging BSNL’s passive infrastructure will help Aircel meet its aggressive network roll out plans in addition to reducing operational cost.”

Mr Kuldeep Goyal, CMD, BSNL added, “We are happy to partner with Aircel. BSNL has a strong nationwide coverage and offers the best value proposition in the Indian telecom market. Our objective is to provide quality and reliable service and thereby increase our partner’s confidence”.

Aircel currently has approximately 32,000 network base stations across the country and post this partnership, it will also have access to BSNL’s 45,000 network towers across its 21 circles.

BSNL’s Diwali Offers

yogen — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:36:54 +0000

This Diwali is definitely bringing up a lot of heat, and nope we are not talking about fire crackers. This Diwali is charging up competition between telecom operators and all are in a race to bring in the best offers. Here are the offers that our publically owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has brought this Diwali.

Talk Plans:

India Golden 50 – This voucher is priced at Rs 123 and comes with a validity of 30 days. It allows BSNL users to make local and STD calls across all networks at 50 paise/min and similarly users can send local and national SMSes at 50 paise/SMS.

India Golden 50 plus – This voucher is priced at Rs 58 and comes with a validity of 30 days. It allows BSNL users to make local and STD calls across home network for 50 paise/minute and across other networks for 75 paise/minute.

SMS Packs:

Diwali SMS – This special voucher is priced at Rs 30 and comes with a validity of 30 days. BSNL users can send Local and National SMSes across all networks at 10 paise/SMS.

Diwali SMS plus – This special voucher is priced at Rs 50 and comes with a validity of 30 days. It offers BSNL users 300 Local and National SMSes wherein if you calculate then the per SMS cost, it comes to around 17 paise/SMS.

GPRS Pack:

BSNL has brought in a new GPRS pack priced at Rs 230 offering users unlimited usage for a period of 30 days.

These offers are special Diwali offers and are only valid till 30th November, 2009.

BSNL brings Diwali goodness to Kerala

Kunal Gangar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:39:13 +0000

BSNL has announced a new promotional offer for prepaid users in Kerala. Starting from today till Diwali i.e. October 17, a user will get 10 percent additional talk time on top-up recharges of Rs. 100, Rs. 200 or Rs. 500. In addition to this, users can also avail unlimited GPRS voucher that will cost Rs. 20 for one day or Rs. 199 for the whole month.

BSNL’s GSM launch to be further delayed

yogen — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:05:08 +0000

BSNL’s GSM project is facing quite some issues in setting up the necessary telecom infrastructure. As per the standard process, the government owned telecom giant attracted proposals from various telecom equipment manufacturers for its Rs 30,000 crore GSM project. The big players in this race were: Ericsson, Huawei, NSN, Alcatel Lucent and ZTE. The bidding process was going smoothly until the Finnish telecom equipment maker; Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) was rejected by BSNL’s bidding panel.

NSN’s proposal was rejected because it had not submitted an experience certificate for the North Zone. (Experience certificate is required to certify operating experience in each of the four Indian Zones). Now, NSN has shot off a letter to BSNL claiming that the PSU has unfairly singled out NSN from the bidding process. NSN said that the certificate submitted for other zones was relevant for the North zone as well; in addition, the letter also said that if BSNL had to disqualify its bid, then it should have also rejected Ericsson’s bid since the latter had allegedly not given a separate certificate.

BSNL has referred this dispute to an integrity panel approved by the Central Vigilance. Two former Chief Election Commissioners — Mr T.S. Krishnamurthy and Mr B.B. Tandon — are the members on this panel.

Nokia Siemens Networks wins GSM network deal with Uninor in India

Exclusive: All (GSM) Blackberry Plans reviewed

Rohan Kamath — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:26:38 +0000

Ed’s Note: Our overworked brains ditched us. Sorry for the goof up, we have added the plans and edited the story accordingly.

When TeleGyaan did an exclusive review of MTNL’s 2G/3G plans, one of our avid readers voiced his opinion and asked us to look at other operators in the landscape. Given the reader-friendly blog we are, here is a post comparing all the GSM – Blackberry plans on offer::

BIS/ BES P-I (for individual/enterprise users)
Monthly rent: Rs.299/ 425
No free usage
Data charge: 30p/40p per Kb

BIS/ BES P-II (for individual/enterprise users)
Monthly Rent: Rs. 499/ 625
500 Kb of free usage
Data charge: 15p/ 20p per Kb

BIS/ BES P-III (for individual users)
Monthly Rent: 999/ 875
Unlimited data usage

We Say: Though the plans might be somewhat in line with that of MTNL, monthly charges as well as variable data usage charges are comparatively lower. However the operator is offering you the best speeds available in the country – 3G speeds.

Our Pick: If you can shell out a thousand bucks, the unlimited plan is the one for you. It will make sure that your Blackberry is used optimally.

Prosumer Lite 299
Monthly Rent: Rs.299
Unlimited Access to 10 email accounts
Prosumer Service
Monthly Rent: Rs.1099
Unlimited email and internet access

We Say: Kindly note that these plans offer 2G (EDGE) speeds. If you’re an email and a messenger junkie, Prosumer Lite is the thing to go for or else the full fledged Prosumer plan will keep you busy with access to social networking sites, stocks et al.

Airtel plans are on the lines of Vodafone’s but there’s one more plan added to the basket:

Plan 1 (Only Email and IM)
Monthly Rent: Rs.299
Unlimited Access to 10 email accounts
Plan 2
Monthly Rent: Rs.499
Free Usage: 500KB; extra usage at 50paise/KB
Plan 3
Monthly Rent: Rs.1099
Unlimited

We Say: 2G speeds again. Again, the decision is pretty simple to make. More Email = Plan 1 or if you’ve got a decent surfing go for the unlimited one. The plan sitting in the middle actually does not make sense. Even though they have tried to give some relief to moderate surfers 500KB and a 50p charge after that is like…forget it!

Loop Mobile has two Blackberry plans for its users::

Plan #1
Monthly Rent: Rs. 499
Free data usage: 500 kb
Data charges: 10p/ Kb

Plan #2
Monthly Rent: Rs.999
Unlimited data usage

We Say:Loop has just got it right. If you’re looking to surf as well as do email on your Blackberry, I think they offer at very competitive prices.

Here is another operator, which has planned to play it simple and straight:

Monthly Rent: Rs.899
Unlimited Blackberry services

We Say: Take it or leave it seems to be the motto of Idea. They offer single plan with no barrier and I guess they win in terms of rent when it comes to unlimited usage.

The Final Verdict

Firstly, we feel that none of the plans, except the unlimited plans, offer great value for money, especially the data charges for all plans and the strange funda of half an Mb of free usage.

If you need speed with your Blackberry service i.e. a 3G service to power your Blackberry, you have two options BSNL and MTNL. With the latter – MTNL being priced too high, we would recommend going for BSNL’s unlimited plan.

If 2G is fine with you, we would definitely go for Vodafone or Airtel’s smart plans – Rs.299 unlimited, which will offer you the basic benefits at an affordable price. After all, Blackberry is all about emailing.

BSNL to offer Blackberry services from April

Rohan Kamath — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:40:04 +0000

State-owner telco – BSNL is expected to offer Blackberry services from April. This move would help the operator gain an edge over the others. Here’s how::

BSNL is one of the two operators offering 3G services in the country.
The other operators which provide Blackberry services, are in the queue to bid for 3G, which is not expected to take place soon…
Thus, lau, nching the service in April could give it a first-mover advantage in the Blackberry-3G zone.

However, the user base for the service is quite small and with Airtel and Vodafone providing ‘killer’ plans for Blackberry users, BSNL might just find it tough to compete against the private telcos. We expect BSNL to come up with some equally good plans to counter competition.

BSNL’s 3G talk/data Plans Reviewed

Rohan Kamath — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 05:45:09 +0000

BSNL launched its 3G services a while ago and we are here to give you the Gyaan you need on the same. This review will take you through all the plans on offer and their respective pros and cons::

Basic Gyaan::

The service is available for both Prepaid and Postpaid users.
Currently, users cannot migrate from existing 2G service to the 3G one.
They will have to buy a new Sim for the same.
Users can avail voice and data benefits through the service

Initial costs::

Cost of the Sim Card – Rs.300 – inclusive of all taxes
Valid for 7 days
No talktime

Call and SMS Charges::

Local calls to BSNL: 40paise
Local calls to other networks: 70 paise
Local Video calls: Rs.2
All STD Calls: Re.1
STD Video calls: Rs.3
Local SMS: 50paise
National SMS: Re.1
International SMS: Rs.5
Data usage: Rs.3/Mb

These were the basics of the plan. Let’s move on to the data plans as you definitely want to thrill yourself with the speed the service offers…

Trial Plan:

50Mb Trial Pack: Rs.60
100Mb Trial Pack: Rs120
Both the above plans have a 15-day validity

Other Plans: All the other plans come with a 30-day validity and data transfer is charged @ Rs.2/MB. The only difference is the amount of free usage you get, which has been given below::

(Cost of the Plan: Free usage)

Rs.250: 300 Mb
Rs.400: 1Gb
Rs.650: 2Gb
Rs.1,000: 5Gb
Rs.3,001: Unlimited

We Say::

Overall the plans look quite good. The subscription charge of Rs.300 is also quite appropriate for the service being offered. Also, the concept of a trial pack @ Rs.60 might help users experience the service before they plan to take a particular plan.

As for the data plans, BSNL’s made sure it caters to different groups. Though the unlimited plan is the most preferable, its price tag takes away its charm. The 2Gb-5Gb plans should work well among users as they are priced quite appropriately. However, the same is very subjective and purely depends on your usage.

BSNL to launch 3G services soon

Rohan Kamath — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:51:19 +0000

After the launch of MTNL’s Jadoo, it’s now BSNL’s turn to launch the high speed 3G service. The operator announced the launch of 3G in Tamil Nadu recently. The service will be first pilot tested in Chennai, where the service will be the first of its kind. Moreover, the operator plans to cover 700 cities and has already set an ample amount, to the extent of Rs. 2700 crore, aside for the same.

Let’s wait and watch how the service is accepted by the users down south.

BSNL’s India Golden Fifty Plan

Kunal Gangar — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:48:59 +0000

BSNL’s new plan could easily set off another tariff war amongst the operators. Dubbed as India Golden Fifty Plan, it tends to set a standard price for all the networks across the whole of India. Be it local calls, STD or even SMS, a user will be charged only 50 paise. If a user tries a call on any BSNL number, he’ll be charged 20 and 30 paise for local calls and STD respectively.

The plan will be available from March 1 for a monthly rent of Rs. 375.

We Say: Even though the tariff is quite lucrative, the monthly rent is a bit of downer. Rs. 375 per month in addition to the call charges will make many think before jumping onto this scheme. We would recommend this only if you’re usage is around Rs. 500 – 600 per month.

BSNL’s 50 rupees Prepaid SIM

yogen — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:35:03 +0000

Government owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) has introduced a new prepaid mobile SIM costing Rs 50 in its Maharashtra-Goa circle. This new SIM card would come with a talktime of Rs 10 and would offer 50 days of initial validity. This new SIM card is specially designed for people having high calling usage on other BSNL mobile phones. The call rates on this new SIM would be 60p/min to BSNL mobile during the day and 20p/min during the night (11 pm to 6 am).

Along with the launch of this new prepaid SIM, BSNL also announced the reduction in the cost of its existing SIM card. The prepaid SIM which would earlier cost Rs 149 will now be available at the cost of Rs 121, indicating a total reduction of around 25% on the cost of this starter pack. This SIM card carries a talktime of Rs 50 and provides an initial validity of 90 days. According to the press release from BSNL, both these SIM cards would be exclusively available at the 489 Customer Service Centers of BSNL spread across Maharashtra and Goa.

» BSNL

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