BSNL plans cheaper package than Jio?

September 23, 2016 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

Reliance’s Jio introduced very cheap call rates which attracted many people. Now, government run BSNL wants to be the first to cut tariffs further to give a better offer than Reliance Jio’s. This was announced by a senior official.

If BSNL does such a move, it could be the beginning of a price war in the country’s crowded mobile telecom market. BSNL is aiming to give cheaper prices than the newly launched Jio. Furthermore, they want to open this for 2G and 3G users as well unlike Jio which is only available for 4G subscribers. Those users form the majority of mobile users making it a big opportunity in terms of business.

BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava said that they are observing the market’s reaction reacting to Jio. Based on what they learn, they would launch their new system. BSNL will also be coming up with lifetime free voice plans from the New Year as part of fresh offerings. He added that they are planning to go for lower prices than Jio.

BSNL already has a fair share in the sector in many states like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Punjab and UP. They are aiming to announce the zero-voice-tariff plans from January. Jio had the entry price of Rs. 149 which BSNL wants to beat.

According to Shrivastava, this new plan will be offered to BSNL’s mobile customers who also have a broadband connection at home. He says that this is to use the home broadband to route outgoing mobile calls through landline network. Since most people spend larger time in their home, this is supposed to help them use their wire-line operations. The free voice facility would of course be available even when a subscriber is outside his/her home.

Many experts say that this move by BSNL could put even more pressure on other networks like Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea etc. to reduce their prices.

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