BSNL Planning a 50 Percent Cut in 3G Data Rates

State-run telecom company, BSNL, has some great news for its mobile subscribers. In the next phase of network expansion, BSNL plans to slash 3G network rates by 50 percent.

BSNL is one of the most budget friendly operators in the market. They offer 3G rates that are at par with the 2G rates of the private telecom operators. The officials have said that they cannot reduce the rates at present as they have utilized 90% if their allotted 3G capacity but they will slash it as soon as they finish expansion. A sudden, drastic decrease in 3G rates might lead to an enormous increase in traffic, so the company wants to ascertain its capability to handle the traffic before reducing the rates.

BSNL at present is in its 7th network expansion phase that will cost Rs.4800 crores and is expected to be completed by June of this year. The company has already started working on the 8th phase and will begin the process of issuing tenders at the start of the financial year 2015-16 that begins in April.

Under phase-8 of network expansion, BSNL is planning to integrate 3G network’s with city-wide WiFi hotspots to have a better handle on traffic. With this process, 3G users will be able to switch automatically between 3G and WiFi networks. This will allow for the traffic to shift to WiFi which will help free up the 3G space.  This unique approach to handling internet traffic might be good for the company but might lead to massive battery drain for the consumers. But it wouldn’t be much of a concern to folks who would be using the BSNL network at 50 percent of the cost of competing networks. Hopefully, BSNL’s initiative might encourage other telecom companies to give a break to their subscribers from massive 3G data bills.