BSNL offer: Recharge with Rs 98, get 1.5GB data per day: What you must know

Taking on Reliance Jio, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched 'Data Tsunami' offer, under which users will get 1.5GB data per day for a period of 26 days with a charge of Rs 98. The state operator has also upped the FUP limit for its Rs 4,999 FTTH plan to stay put in the fibre connectivity competition. "BSNL provides efficient services at cheaper rates as per requirement of customers. This is a pure data STV which provides at a very economic rate at Rs 2.51 per GB," said RK Mittal, Director (CM), BSNL Board, in a press statement.

All you need to know about BSNL's 'Data Tsunami' offer
BSNL 1.5GB data per day pack
The new offer comes through the new data STV-98 pack that is available with immediate effect across all BSNL circles in India. Users will get 1.5GB data per day for a period of 26 days with a charge of Rs 98. With the fresh benefits that are available through the Rs 98 pack, BSNL is offering data at Rs 2.51 per GB. This is lower than what Jio is offering with its Rs 149 pack that has a validity of 28 days and offers 1.5GB data per day - which eventually costs Rs 3.5 per GB. Airtel also has a similar Rs 149 pack that brings the data benefits close to Rs 5.3 per GB. However, both Jio and Airtel are providing unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS messages per day that you won't get on the Rs. 98 BSNL pack. This Rs 98 pack offers only data, unlike the Rs 118 pack.

Telecom shares rally; Idea, RCom up over 5%, Bharti Airtel hits 8-year high

Shares of telecom services providers rallied with Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications up more than 5% each, and Bharti Airtel at eight-year high on the BSE. MTNL, Tata Communications and Reliance Industries, too, were trading higher in the range of 1% to 3% as compared to 0.2% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex at 11:12 AM.

The S&P BSE Telecom index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 1.6%, hitting record high of 1,624 points in intra-day trade on Monday.

Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJio), a telecom arm of Reliance Industries, has decided to raise effective prices of most 4G tariff plans by 15-20% from October 19.

RJio’s revision of tariffs, which includes a reduction in the validity period, is a positive for the telecom sector and will ease some pressure off the incumbents, the Business Standard report suggests.
According to Financial Express report, the government will soon come out with regulations to allow telecom operators to enter into agreements for sharing of network-related infrastructure or Common Telecom Infrastructure (CTI), a move that will not only bring down operational cost of these companies, but also check the menace of call drops.

Bharti Airtel was up 3% at Rs 490, its highest level since May 2009 on the BSE. In past two weeks, the stock rallied 29% after the company said on October 12 that it will acquire the wireless business of the Tata Group.

Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) too locked in upper circuit for the seventh straight trading sessions up 5% at Rs 6.47 on the BSE. The stock zoomed 61% from Rs 4.02 on October 11, as compared to 2% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

BSNL gives Reliance Jio a run for its money, offers 270 GB for Rs 333

To counter threat from Reliance Jio, state-run telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), is the latest to join the bandwagon after Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel as it has announced three new schemes ranging from Rs 333 to Rs 395.

Here are the three new offers — Triple Ace, Dil Khol Ke Bol and Nehle per Dehla that have been launched for existing pre-paid users.

Rs 333 Triple Ace plan: Offering unlimited 3G data with a per day cap usage of 3 GB, this plan has a validity of 90 days. This amounts to 90 GB a month and 270 GB 3G data for three months. While the cheap rates at Rs 1.23 per GB is a catch, other operators offering 4G speed can be a drawback for BSNL.

Rs 349 Dil Khol Ke Bol plan: Enticing customers with unlimited local and STD calling, this plan offers high speed 3G data with a daily cap of 2GB, valid for 90 days as well. However, whether the unlimited calls are valid across other networks except BSNL is not known yet.

Rs 395 Nehle pe Dahla plan: Apart from offering unlimited data with a limit of 2GB data per day, users will also get 3,000 minutes free calls within BSNL network, and 1,800 minutes free for calls to all other networks. Upon exhausting the daily download limit, the speed will drop to 80 kbps. Unlike the other two plans, this one has a validity of 71 days, which equals to nearly 10 weeks.

The above-mentioned data plans are meant to take on Reliance Jio’s plans priced at Rs 309 and Rs 509 that offers unlimited calling, national roaming, free SMS across India. For the Rs 309 plan, a user gets 1GB 4G data per day valid for 84 days, whereas, the Rs 509 plan offers 2GB 4G data valid for 84 days as well.

Additionally, BSNL also revamped the benefits of STV339 plan.

Reliance Jio has become the largest broadband service provider in the country within three months of its commercial launch. It has 52.23 million broadband customers.

BSNL continues to dominate the broadband market in fixed line services segment with 9.95 million customers and ranks fifth in mobile broadband space with 20.39 million subscribers.
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