From introducing 4G to updating previous prepaid recharge plans, BSNL has remained quite active in the past couple of months. The subscriber-base of the state-run telco is growing fast and its current offerings are comparable to the private telecom operators. BSNL is usually known for its cost-effective STVs, which vary from circle to circle. However, the telecom operator has always lagged in the postpaid segment and it looks like that’s about to change. In a recent development, BSNL has updated its INR 525 postpaid plan to offer data carry forward option up to 200GB.
BSNL INR 525 Revised Plan Details
The BSNL INR 525 postpaid is available on a pan-India basis. While the offerings of the plan remain the same in all the other circles, BSNL has revised the plan in the Kolkata circle. As per the revised plan, the postpaid subscribers get 80GB of 2G/3G data per month along with the option to carry forward the unused data up to 200GB. Furthermore, the subscribers are provided with unlimited voice calling benefits to any network in India with the added benefit of making non-chargeable calls to Delhi and Mumbai circles.
Note that most of the prepaid recharge plans from BSNL do not allow free calls to Delhi and Mumbai circles. In addition to all this, there are 100 SMS per day and the telco will charge INR 5 per SMS for international messages. In other circles, the BSNL INR 525 plan offers 15GB data per month along with unlimited voice calls. Needless to mention, there is no data carry forward option either.
For different benefits, BSNL has different security deposit options. The telecom operator will charge INR 500 for local and STD voice calling services, while the user has to pay a sum of INR 2,000 if they want to include ISD services in the plan as well. For an additional international roaming service, the deposit becomes INR 5,000. Furthermore, the user gets unlimited data with the postpaid plan data and in case the user ends up using the 80GB monthly data, the speed is downgraded to 40Kbps. BSNL has other postpaid plan options that offer unlimited data with no FUP constraints. For instance, there is one postpaid plan priced at INR 1,525 that offers unlimited data at the same speed throughout along with the added benefit of free Amazon Prime Subscription for a year.
BSNL Has Offered the Data Carry Forward Option Earlier
The option to add the unused data in the next month’s offering is not new to BSNL. The state-run telecom operator offered this option to its prepaid users, back in 2015. However, the service was terminated soon as the data usage went stagnant. The data carry forward option for the postpaid plan was long-requested. The telecom operator has brought back this service with the postpaid segment, one plan at a time. We are expecting it to revise this plan and some other ones in several circles soon.
While the private telecom operators have started the data carry forward service a year before BSNL, the state-run telecom operator is in no hurry to implement this to all of its postpaid plans. Also, BSNL has limited the storage to 200GB, which is little lower as compared to the other telecom operators. To recall, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea allow a maximum of 500GB with their high-end postpaid plans. Nonetheless, BSNL has joined the bandwagon and we can hope to see other plans getting revived soon.
