Sun Nov 24 09:20:00 UTC 2024: ## BSNL’s ₹699 130-Day Plan Shakes Up Telecom Market, Puts Pressure on Jio and Airtel
**NEW DELHI** – State-owned telecom provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is making waves in the Indian telecom market with its aggressively priced recharge plans. The latest offering, a ₹699 plan offering 130 days of validity, is putting significant pressure on private competitors Jio and Airtel.
BSNL’s strategic move has led to a surge in its subscriber base. The company added nearly 900,000 new users in September alone, bringing its total mobile subscriber count to over 90 million. This growth comes at the expense of Jio and Airtel, who have reportedly lost millions of subscribers over the past three months.
BSNL’s ₹699 plan offers unlimited calls across India, free national roaming, 0.5GB of high-speed data per day (totaling 65GB), and 100 free SMS per day. After the daily data limit is exhausted, users still have access to unlimited internet at 40Kbps. This compares favorably to similar plans from competitors: Jio offers a 98-day plan for ₹999 with 2GB daily data and Airtel provides a 90-day plan for ₹779 with 1.5GB daily data. Both offer similar voice and SMS benefits.
The affordability of BSNL’s 130-day plan, costing users approximately ₹5 per day, is seen as a key factor in its success. Analysts suggest that this aggressive pricing strategy is forcing Jio and Airtel to reconsider their own pricing models. BSNL’s continued rollout of budget-friendly plans underscores its ambition to regain market share and challenge the dominance of its private sector rivals.
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