Anyone who became a BSNL Broadband customer during 2005-2010 would remember Combo 500 Night Unlimited Plan – a plan that used to offer unlimited internet usage during night at 2 Mbps for Rs. 500 + taxes per month along with a huge number of free call units (I believe 175). It was dream come true for many Indian households who could surf and download at great speeds without worrying about bill shocks. Time on BSNL stopped providing the offer for new subscribers and the plan was stripped of goodies like free calls by a huge number but the night data remained. It’s all set to go from 01 July 2014 if BSNL has its way.

TelecomTALK has learnt from exclusive sources that BSNL was always worried about the low revenues coming from the subscribers with those plans. Customers (me included) would use large amounts of data during the night time, thanks to download schedulers and switch off the modems at 8 AM! The proposed revision is set to completely do away with the night unlimited part and customers would be paying at reduced rates for those times. 1 GB of data download which used to cost nothing so far will cost Rs. 154 (at the rate of Rs. 0.15/MB) during 2 AM to 8 AM. It will cost double the amount if used during other hours.

This move according to us will negatively impact scores of loyal BSNL customers by effectively restricting them from freely downloading content. These plans were great for students who could wake up early and utilize internet effectively. I was in all praise of BSNL in 2010-11 when I put my broadband connection to maximum use for my M.Tech project work wherein I had to download loads of satellite imagery in short time frames.

What BSNL could do?

BSNL could increase the free data usage limit from present low limits to say 5 – 10 GB with a marginal increase in rent and go with proposed revisions BSNL could lower the per MB rates to say Rs. 0.01 per MB instead of proposed Rs. 0.15 per MB!

Readers, what do you feel about this move from BSNL? If you are a subscriber of above mentioned plans what is your next plan of action? Let us know!