The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Cut in BSNL rate evokes customer interest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 12, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Cut in BSNL rate evokes customer interest

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: The announcement of a slash in the rate of broadband connection of BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) has generated a lot of enquiries in the city.

Broadband service at reduced rate will be available from August 16 to September 30, with no installation charges. An installation fee of Rs.250 was being charged by the BSNL earlier. Towards the modem, the rental charge is Rs.100 a month with a security deposit of Rs.500, while the outright purchase of the modem will cost Rs.1,200. Earlier, it was Rs.2,000. The minimum hire period of the service is three months.

The telecom major had set up 27 sites in Ernakulam Secondary Switching Area (SSA) in the initial stages for its broadband service and is now planning to increase the capacity of its available sites, said S.A. Thomas, the Chief General Manager. Another expansion is also being planned, he said.

There are only over 1,100 broadband connections given by the BSNL in Ernakulam SSA, though the scope to increase the number of connections is much more. All over the State there are about 3,000 connections. Broadband connectivity is available in all the SSA headquarters.

The BSNL is yet to have a corporate client so far for its broadband service. While those who use the connection rave about the fantastic speed and unclogged line for their Internet activity, it is yet to go down to the customer in a manner which would help them reap the benefit of the connectivity.

However, the BSNL is the only Internet service provider which is able to provide connectivity to areas away from the main city, like Muvatupuzha, Thodupuzha and some other areas in Idukki. The private players in the field do not have the required infrastructure to provide the service.

In the Home Plan 250, the speed of the Internet service is available at 256 Kbps, with a download limit of 0.4 Gigabit. For additional downloads the charge is Rs.1.40 for each mega byte. This is more useful for the low-end users.

However, in the Rs.500 package plan, the download limit is 1 GB. For any additional download, one has to pay Rs.1.20 for each MB.

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