BSNL cuts broadband tariff by 50 pc — Offers Wi-Fi services at 50 paise/minute  ( August '10,2005, HBL)

THE tariff war in the broadband segment is hotting up. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has reduced its broadband usage charges by 50 per cent from Rs 500 per month to Rs 250 per month for a 256-Kbps connection.

The move follows a cut in tariff by Airtel last week, which offered 256 Kbps broadband connection at rates similar to dial-up access at Rs 30 per hour.

BSNL has also launched its Wi-Fi (wireless broadband service) for as low as 50 paise per minute. Wi-Fi is used by Internet users in airports, cyber cafes, and university campus.

For the business users, BSNL has brought down the tariff from Rs 1,200 per month to Rs 700 for a 256-Kbps connection. Under this plan, users can download up to 2 GB. The new tariff is an Independence Day offer from BSNL and will be applicable from August 16. Home users will get download capacity of 400 MB. Additional downloading charges have been reduced from Rs 2 per MB to Rs 1.20 for Home 500 plan and Rs 0.60 MB for Business 900 plan.

BSNL has also introduced unlimited night downloading for all home plans except Home 250 between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. Installation charges have been waived for new users till September 30.

Security deposit has also been reduced to one month's rental instead of two months. Billing of DataOne will henceforth not be in advance, but on a monthly basis depending on the usage. One-time modem charges have been reduced from Rs 2,000 to Rs 1,200.

On the Wi-Fi front, BSNL has allowed users free access on Sundays. The pre-paid service has coupons ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1,100 and usage charges per minute ranging from 67 paise to Re 1 depending on the value of the card. For post-paid users, there is an `Unlimited Plan' for Rs 1,500 monthly charges.

There is another plan applicable to `Netone' customers with `nil' monthly charges and 50 paise per minute or Rs 30 per hour. BSNL is set to provide 300 Wi-Fi hot spots in 24 cities by the end of August.