BSNL, the public-owned telecom services provider, has increased the data allowance of more of its 3G plans, days after announcing two new tariff plans.
Last week, the company has increased the allocation on two of its popular recharges by double or more.
The Rs 78 pack, which used to provide 1 GB of data for 5 days, was tweaked to give 2 GB and the Rs 291 plan, which used to provide 2 GB per month, would not provide 8 GB.
Now, BSNL has revealed some more 3G plans with extra data allocation. All plans are valid only till May 5, after which BSNL will withdraw or re-issue these packs.
| Recharge | Validity | Old GB | New GB | Price/GB |
| SHORT VALIDITY | ||||
| 549 | 30 | 10 | 15 | 36.60 |
| 78 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 39.00 |
| 156 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 52.00 |
| 198 | 24 | 1 | 3 | 66.00 |
| 155 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 77.50 |
| 98 | 14 | 0.65 | 1 | 98.00 |
| LONG VALIDITY | ||||
| 561 | 60 | 5 | 11 | 51.00 |
| 821 | 60 | 6 | 15 | 54.73 |
| 444 | 60 | 3 | 8 | 55.50 |
| 451* | 60 | 2 | 6 | 60.00 |
| 3099* | 60 | 15 | 20 | 120.00 |
| *451 gives Rs 80 talktime, 3099 gives unlimited calls and SMS | Recharges vary with circle | ||||
The popular Rs 549 3G recharge, which used to give 10 GB per month, will now give 15 GB per month, which comes to around Rs 36 per GB, making it the second cheapest 3G plan from BSNL, after the truly unlimited plan at Rs 1,099 per month.SHORT VALIDITY PLANS
The second cheapest plan is the Rs 78 for 2 GB one at Rs 39 per GB.
The Rs 156 pack will now give 3 GB instead of 2 GB for 10 days, and for Rs 155 you will now get 2 GB with five extra days of validity.
To get 1 GB with a validity of 14 days, you need to now spend only Rs 98 (99 in some circles).
LONG VALIDITY PLANS
One of the benefits of BSNL compared to others is the availability of long-validity packs, with some valid as long as 1 year.
However, the per-GB cost of data is higher for long-validity packs. The cheapest is Rs 561 for 11GB, which works out to Rs 51/GB.
While the 15GB pack with a validity of 1 month costs Rs 549, the same pack with a 60-day validity costs Rs 821 (see the chart).
You can also go for 444 recharge, which gives you 8GB of data valid for two months, or Rs 451, which gives Rs 80 talktime along with 6 GB.
These new plans have been introduced in keeping with the sharp decline in data tariffs seen in the Indian market in the last six months with the entry of Reliance Jio.
Besides BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone have also slashed their data charges. The private operators are offering tariffs as low as Rs 147 for 6 GB (Airtel) and Rs 250 for 10 GB (Idea and Vodafone) for 4G users. BSNL is expected to launch 4G services only towards the end of 2017.