BSNL is scrapping the proliferation of frequently revised and tariff-differentiated plans in the post-paid broadband segment in favour of a slimmer bouquet that integrates outgoing calls and Internet usage.
Aimed at driving Internet use, as much as retaining relevance of the landline-modem-copper cable ecosystem, the reformulation of plans will remove the cap on data consumption. However, a fair usage limit will be fixed. And, whenever a user steps beyond this limit the browsing speeds go down instead of the bill going up.
According to a circular from BSNL's corporate office in Delhi, at least nine broadband plans such as the BBG Combo 650, 850 and 3,500 are not to be offered to new customers. Instead, BSNL is pushing the BBG Combo ULD 850 that offers up to 1Mbps speed upto 8 GB and a speed of 256 Kbps beyond that along with an incentive of 350 free calls.
While the circular states that though these plans will operate for those who have already opted for it, it specifically instructs officials to encourage migration to the new reformulated plan.
“The new reformulated scheme is another stride towards motivating higher usage at lesser cost,” a BSNL Chennai Telephones official said. The 8 GB limit that has been set under fair usage policy will offer considerable leeway for most users as analysis of data consumption show that the Internet usage of a subscriber is about 4-5 GB per month, he said.
The scheme also blurs the divide between the business user segments and the home users. The business category that was considered premium has much to gain in this “equalisation process,” an official said. The advantage to the home user is the free call incentive, he said.
Even in the limited use plans, the additional costs on overstepping the assigned quota has been slashed from 60 paise per MB to 10 paise per MB. Broadband is one of the rapidly growing portfolios for Chennai Telephones with the number of connections grossing 4.80 lakh users—almost halfway into bringing the 1 million landline connections into the DataOne fold. On average, the department adds 9,000 new broadband connections per month.
As added incentive, those taking a broadband connection before March 31 get a waiver of installation costs and a bonus of unlimited downloads for a 15-day period.
