Thread: BSNL Broadband To Upgrade The Bandwidth

Good news for BSNL Broadband subscribers. After a LONG time BSNL is readying to upgrade the bandwidth for some plans.

In 2007 BSNL last upgraded their bandwidth from 256 kbps to 2 Mbps for their ADSL based broadband services.

This announcement comes as BSNL is facing stiff competition from other national and local players in market.

Airtel and Reliance being a national ISP is giving very much competition to BSNL broadband.In Hyderabad fibre based ISP Beam Telecom offers more than 10 Mbps download speed in some plans.

The Hindu reports that BSNL will upgrade the bandwidth in some selected home plans with monthly rental of Rs. 625 and Rs. 750 in Andra Pradesh circle. It has been known that to address the net decrease of broadband subscribers BSNL AP circle sent proposals to double the existing speeds have already been sent, and the customers can expect the results soon.

So if the promise is kept, 256 kbps unlimited combo plan 625 will offer 512 kbps and 512 kbps unlimited plan 750 will offer 1 Mbps.

Samadhaan scheme for settlement of disputes in respect of Broadband usage has been extended up to March 31 next year, to retain customers planning to migrate to other connections.

Source

Only for AP circle it seems, or may be on in Hyderabad where Beam is offering 10 Mbps for less than Rs. 1,000 (with FUP of course).

Originally Posted by meetdilip

Only for AP circle it seems, or may be on in Hyderabad where Beam is offering 10 Mbps for less than Rs. 1,000 (with FUP of course).

Maybe they are planning it stage by stage. First in AP, then others. We can hope that babus will not disappoint us!

I doubt that, MTNL has long introduced much cheaper plans than BSNL and we all hoped that BSNL will come up with something like that soon. But there is still hope left as the National Telecom Policy draft suggests and upgrade of BB speed to 512 Kbps, but the question is when ?

As mentioned in the news source, this upgrade of bandwidth is applicable only to AP circle. Beam Fiber Broadband is ruining the plans of other ISPs located in that circle and hence most ISPs operating over there are upgrading their default speeds. BSNL as usual is late to the party - because many of their existing subscribers have already migrated to Beam.

BSNL always comes up with custom offers for specific states. We have seen similar offers in Kolkata and Chennai.

I dont think this step is not taken by BSNL due to decreasing subscriber base.

If you have read new telecom policy, in it there is a line which defines meaning of broadband as internet speed of minimum 512kbps. This definition is going to be implemented from dec 2011.

so it is just because of that, and you will see change in broadband plans from all ISPs in coming months

In that case, they should have been trying it all over India, or at least in Metro BSNL circles like Chennai and Kolkata. Believe me, NTP 2011 has nothing to do with this move. Actually this was reported by Hindu much before NTP 2011 which is still a draft open to suggestions and changes.

It will take little time for BSNL to upgrade their bandwidth all over india because for it either they have to lower their contention ratio or they have to increase bandwidth of our lines from 2mbps to 4 mbps.

if i am not wrong last time when 750UL bandwidth was doubled their decreased the contention ratio from 1:50 to 1:25

16 days are left to submit feedback on NTP 2011 @ DRAFT NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY- 2011

Technically there won't be much hurdles, it is a management level decision that is missing.

Originally Posted by maxsteel

This definition is going to be implemented from dec 2011.

No. That is just a draft of the proposed policies. Numerous rounds of discussions will take place in the mean time. A lot of things will be subtracted from this proposal. The only mention of december 2011 is the proposal to incorporate ipv6 services. Then again, it is a proposal.

BSNL merely responded to the increasing competition. Reliance did. Airtel did not. Any provider will. At least if they wish to conduct profitable business in AP.

also the most annoying problem is not speed but FUP.what good is a 100mbps connection if it comes with a FUP of 100gb past which you will get 256kbps!in my opinion only change need to be done is min FUP limit must not be less than 50% of the max download possible on the connection.e.g.on a 2mbps connection you can download 16gb in 24 hours so in a month you can dl 480gb so FUP should be 240gb.

FUP is on really annoying limits in India. ISPs are just playing Microsoft and milking the market condition which is in favour for them. But in my opinion 50 - 100 GB will be a decent limit. I myself never cross 40 GB even after downloading in an average fashion. But yes, if someone prefer Blu Ray movies and games in GBs, that is certainly going to be less.

Any news guys...when would it be implemented

Originally Posted by param_nokia

Any news guys...when would it be implemented

Answer: As soon as BSNL officials give up corruption and stop taking bribes from private ISPs for not launching competitive plans.

Originally Posted by whitestar_999

also the most annoying problem is not speed but FUP.what good is a 100mbps connection if it comes with a FUP of 100gb past which you will get 256kbps!in my opinion only change need to be done is min FUP limit must not be less than 50% of the max download possible on the connection.e.g.on a 2mbps connection you can download 16gb in 24 hours so in a month you can dl 480gb so FUP should be 240gb.

What if Indian Gov. strictly bans illegal downloads and enforces 3 strikes policy similar to Europe. How many GBs would you use without downloading any illegal stuff ?

Originally Posted by net_addict

Answer: As soon as BSNL officials give up corruption and stop taking bribes from private ISPs for not launching competitive plans.

actually it is bsnl which is stopping other companies from launching competitive plans by not letting them use its last mile network.

Originally Posted by net_addict

What if Indian Gov. strictly bans illegal downloads and enforces 3 strikes policy similar to Europe. How many GBs would you use without downloading any illegal stuff ?

i knew someone would raise this point.it is true that if you only download movies/games then with strict rules your download will be much less.however there are ways to consume 100gb or more using legal ways.if you watch free video streaming in HD or browse heavy flash/multimedia loaded sites(just so you know there are popular sites whose each page consumes ~5-10mb).you can video chat with avg to good resolution for hours.you can buy membership of legal movie sites like 70mm of reliance & can watch movies in dvd quality.there is also lot of content on net which you can download as long as it is not licensed in your country(most of the japanes/korean tv animation etc,old TV shows of US or other countries).

Originally Posted by whitestar_999

i knew someone would raise this point.it is true that if you only download movies/games then with strict rules your download will be much less.however there are ways to consume 100gb or more using legal ways.if you watch free video streaming in HD or browse heavy flash/multimedia loaded sites(just so you know there are popular sites whose each page consumes ~5-10mb).you can video chat with avg to good resolution for hours.you can buy membership of legal movie sites like 70mm of reliance & can watch movies in dvd quality.there is also lot of content on net which you can download as long as it is not licensed in your country(most of the japanes/korean tv animation etc,old TV shows of US or other countries).

I am in full agreement with this point. The " how much you will download if legal stuff only " is kind of " cricket is spoiling youngsters " argument. It is not that ISPs offer 100 GB FUP which I may not criticize, but they think 4 GB is enough in many decent speed plans. And it is not just BSNL who is doing this (they have to invest in non profitable areas too), but also ISPs like Airtel who choose only cheesy areas where they get the maximum profit. Well, it is perfectly in their right to make profit, but there is something called commitment to customers which most of them forget.

And as for BSNL officials taking bribe for not giving profitable plan, there may be some corrupt people, but if that was the case, they would have long stopped Home Combo 500 and Home Combo 600 which has no match even today (the plan was launched more than 2 years ago).

Even if BSNL let private ISPs use their network, they would still try to milk the customer than passing on the profit. I remember hearing an argument that if there had been scam on 3G too, 3G prices would have been cheaper.

The other side is that private players are trying to use BSNL network for almost nothing by bribing telecom ministry. Recently in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh, BSNL suspended local calls to and from private players because they defaulted some 8 Crore Rupees. It is certainly not the lack of fund that players like Idea, Tata, Reliance and Airtel all made default in payment. They are just trying to use the network for free which was built by tax payer's money.

letting the private ISP's use the bsnl land line network for providing net services will result in more competition & better services for customer.not just airtel & reliance but many small players will come up.it will be just like what privatization did to telecom sector especially mobile.it will not cost anything to bsnl to provide their network to private ISPs except that customer will be able to choose between different providers on same line.private ISPs will install their equipment at local exchange at their own expense.airtel is only putting ridiculous FUP because there is no alternative.reliance uses a different standard altogether from airtel & bsnl/mtnl using ADSL over pppoe & is available in very few areas compared to those two.

Originally Posted by meetdilip

they would have long stopped Home Combo 500 and Home Combo 600 which has no match even today (the plan was launched more than 2 years ago).

Well, if you take a survey now then you will find out that those two plans you have mentioned, are no more that much effective and popular ever since the UL & ULD plans have been introduced.Many people are switching over to the UL & ULD plans because of the fact that they were unable to manage the day limits of 1.5 GB & 2.5 GB per month due to which they had to pay huge amount of bill whereas in the UL & ULD there is no tension of any limitations, the only thing matters here is the speed in UL plans i.e. 512 Kbps and higher bandwidths is available with FUP in some ULD plans which is fair enough.

current FUP limits are not fair at all.if you can't even download 50% of max possible on a connection how can this be fair.i am strongly against the usage of word "FAIR" in this regard.call it usage limit or company policy limit or whatever but it doesn't deserve to be called "FAIR".

Adding to the owes is the throttling which certain ISPs (airtel) enforce during torrent downloads. This throttling takes place even when we are well within the monthly FUP limit. Not at all fair.

@whitestar_999

I said "some" ULD plans not all of them.For example, ULD 1350(4 Mbps upto 20 GB beyond that 512 Kbps), that's fair enough and for the UL plans especially the UL 750 plan, the speed is satisfactory.

For example, ULD 1350(4 Mbps upto 20 GB beyond that 512 Kbps), that's fair enough and for the UL plans especially the UL 750 plan, the speed is satisfactory.

That again is from BSNL, hope you got what I meant. And I think Combo 500 and 600 are the still the best plans if you have a budget for Rs. 500 per month. The day time usage limit should have been long updated and BSNL's laziness should be blamed for that.

Originally Posted by whitestar_999

letting the private ISP's use the bsnl land line network for providing net services will result in more competition & better services for customer.not just airtel & reliance but many small players will come up.it will be just like what privatization did to telecom sector especially mobile.it will not cost anything to bsnl to provide their network to private ISPs except that customer will be able to choose between different providers on same line.private ISPs will install their equipment at local exchange at their own expense.airtel is only putting ridiculous FUP because there is no alternative.reliance uses a different standard altogether from airtel & bsnl/mtnl using ADSL over pppoe & is available in very few areas compared to those two.

Agree, but private players want it for free and try to get it done through out of way. Tax payer's money is to be used for providing free infrastructure for private players. There should be some payback option, may be in some 20 years or so as in case of BOT.

current FUP limits are not fair at all.if you can't even download 50% of max possible on a connection how can this be fair.i am strongly against the usage of word "FAIR" in this regard.call it usage limit or company policy limit or whatever but it doesn't deserve to be called "FAIR".

Originally Posted by cool_techie_tvm

Adding to the owes is the throttling which certain ISPs (airtel) enforce during torrent downloads. This throttling takes place even when we are well within the monthly FUP limit. Not at all fair.

Very true. The word Fair is like Lux Superhit Movie in Doordarshan

Originally Posted by meetdilip

And I think Combo 500 and 600 are the still the best plans if you have a budget for Rs. 500 per month.

Yes, but the question is can you manage with those limits?
The answer is absolutely no.Even casual surfing will exhaust the limits by far and ultimately, as i said earlier also, you would be facing a huge amount of bill.
That's the main reason why many people are switching over to the UL & ULD plans ever since they have been introduced.

It is an old plan and has not been updated for around 2 years now. And talking about ULD plans, can you manage with 8 GB limit and then live using 256 Kbps unlimited ? The answer is certainly NO. Not everyone can afford ULD 1350 which adds another Rs. 140 as tax making it Rs. 1,500 per month.

Home Combo 500 and 600 are suited mainly for students who cannot spare much on internet but has great need for bandwidth. Their day time browsing is considerably less when compared to others. I have many friends who are still using these plans as if you are a heavy downloader, it is the best you can get in India at the moment. It would be better to have a UL 750 Combo with it if you can afford and will give much more than ULD 1350.

I do agree that 2.5 GB is too low according to current standard, but something is always better than nothing.

It would be better to have a UL 750 Combo with it if you can afford and will give much more than ULD 1350.

Agreed with you here.UL 750 combo is far more better than ULD 1350 combo.