BSNL offers 10 percent discount on broadband speed restoration add-on plans

BSNL has announced a special promotional offer where it is providing a discount of 10 percent on broadband speed restoration add-on plans as a part of Christmas, New Year and Republic day. This offer will be effective from 25-12-2015 to 31-01-2016 in all the circles on a promotional basis.

BSNL’s speed restoration add-on plans for broadband subscribers offer restoration of unlimited broadband plan speed even after crossing the FUP limit. Subscribers can choose from Rs. 100 for 2GB, Rs. 200 for 5GB, Rs. 300 for 10GB, and Rs. 500 for 20GB high-speed data quota for the rest of the billing cycle. Subscriber will then receive to a pop-up message when the data quota gets exhausted. Subscribers can then choose add-on plan of choice and the charges will be included in the next billing cycle.

Christmas and New Year holiday are the times when a lot of data is used by customers. Hitting FUP limit and using slow Internet speed for the rest of the month is something that everyone hates. This is a welcome move from BSNL to offer discount on its add-on plans broadband plans.

Indoreans can WhatsApp complaints to BSNL

State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has kicked off a unique initiative to address customer complaints in Indore. The telco has launched WhatsApp service to register complaints from its users in the city and enhance communication with them, according to a TOI report. BSNL has around 3 lakh customers in Indore, and 26 lakh across the state. The latest initiative is a part of the Indian government’s revival strategy for both BSNL and MTNL.

According to BSNL’s General Manager, MR Rawat, the service would make it easier for the telecom users to use WhatsApp service. “BSNL is making continuos efforts to work for the growth of the sector. We are trying our best to give the users best possible deals,” he was quoted by the publication.

In addition to the service, the telecom operator is installing new mobile towers across the city to improve overall. These towers are likely to start functioning by 2016. BSNL would be installing FTTH (fibre to the home) in a bid to increase the network and land-line connection lines in the city.
The report said that BSNL is also preparing to install new mobile towers in rural areas to expand coverage. The telco would carry out test drive on continuos basis for the survey of telecom network within the city.

FreeCharge aims to strengthen online utility bill payment category; introduces gas bill payment services

Digital payments platform FreeCharge has launched gas bill payment (pipeline gas connection) service for customers on its website and Android app and has plans to add more new segments in the utility space.

The company also plans to introduce LPG cylinder refill payments on its platform in the coming months.

It has further added new billers to electricity bill payment services and also introduced landline bill payments as it aims to help customers transact online more actively and launch services that enable them to pay all their utility bills in a secure manner in less than 10 seconds.

Kunal Shah, Co-Founder and CEO, FreeCharge, said, “Since the time we have launched electricity bill payment services, the response has been really good and we expect similar response for gas and landline bill payment services. We also plan to introduce LPG cylinder refill payments on our platform in coming months in line with our major merchant’s plans.”c

With this new facility, a customer can pay his pipeline gas bills using FreeCharge Wallet, credit/ debit card, net banking. The company has associated with five major gas pipeline providers, including Mahanagar Gas Ltd, Indraprastha Gas, Gujarat Gas Company Limited, GSPC Gas Company Limited and Adani Gas.

Besides, FreeCharge has now partnered with 21 electricity boards, including BEST, BSES, NDPL and BESCOM among others. The services in the telecom bill segment has also been extended to landline bill payments and customers can pay Airtel and BSNL landline bills across the country along with MTNL in Delhi through FreeCharge.

Facebook, BSNL to power 100 WiFi hotspots in rural India

After Internet major Google, Facebook is also preparing to tap the country’s Wi-Fi market. It has already partnered Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) to create 100 WiFi hotspots in rural India to drive digital penetration in the country, ET reported.

The report said that the social networking giant is investing Rs 5 crore annually to buy bandwidth from BSNL for a period of three years.

BSNL and Facebook have already roped in players like Quad Zen and Trimax for equipments and fiber deployment. The report said that Qaud Zen will be responsible for equipment sourcing and sales in the south-west region, whereas Trimax will look after the northern region.

Around 25 villages have been covered under the pilot programme in southern and western India so far, the report said, citing BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava, who added that the WIFI project is expected to be scaled up and extended from a current three-year partnership, by another two years.

Shrivastava, a few months back, had said that BSNL will invest Rs 6,000 crore over the next three years to set up some 40,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the country. BSNL has so far rolled out 450 tourist hotspots, and is targeting 2,500 WiFi hotspots by the end of current fiscal year through March 2016.

Google, in September this year, partnered with state-run RailTel to equip 400 railways station in India with Wi-Fi networks. The WiFi project was announced by Google CEO Sunder Pichai during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent US visit.

Under the tie-up, Google is planning to provide internet access to one crore passengers at 100 busiest railway stations in India by mid-2016, and then later on expand it to 300 other stations.