NEW DELHI: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is the new entrant to join the data tariff war between the major telecom companies like Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone etc. The state-owned telecom service provider has launched a new prepaid recharge plan of Rs 249 that offers 1GB data per day, unlimited free local and STD calls with a validity of 28 days.

However, the free voice calls in the pack are restricted to BSNL's own network only and data speed will be capped at 3G speeds. Launched for a limited period, the offer will be available only till October 25, 2017.

NEW DELHI: State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is partnering with homegrown mobile device makers— Lava and Micromax— to unveil co-branded feature phones at a close to Rs 2,000 price point with bundled freebies in October.

“Our strategy is away from procurement. We are trying to come up with our own bundled phone equipments and in about a month time, you will see co-branded feature phones with various manufactures will come,” BSNL chairman Anupam Shrivastava told ETTelecom.

Two years after giving its in-principle nod, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the hiving off of the mobile towers business of BSNL into a separate company with an intent to enable the state-owned, loss-making firm to monetise its tower infrastructure and earn higher revenues.

The Cabinet also approved a proposal to extend the benefit of a higher gratuity ceiling of Rs 20 lakh enjoyed by central government staff to employees of all PSUs, autonomous bodies and private-sector firms employing 10 or more persons, where the current limit on mandatory gratuity is Rs 10 lakh. This will require an amendment to the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, by Parliament.

Punjab National Bank and state-run firm BSNL today teamed up to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay across 10 states in the country. PNB’s Speedway wallet will operate like any other mobile wallet for paying bills, recharging phone besides its users will be able to deposit and withdraw money from authorised retail outlets. Also, Speedway users will be able to operate Internet banking services from the application. “India is now second largest market in the world with 120 crore mobile users. Congratulating BSNL, Punjab National Bank and the technology partners in helping India moving towards less cash economy,” Telecom minister Manoj Sinha said at an event to mark the agreement signing ceremony between BSNL and PNB.

Finnish communications company Nokia and Chinese telecom gear maker ZTE has bagged the Rs 6,000-crore network expansion project of state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

"We have issued the advance purchase order to Nokia and in the next 10 days it will be issued to ZTE, " said BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava.

The state-owned telecom firm BSNL expects to start a field trial of 5G services by the end of this financial year, company's chairman and MD Anupam Shrivastava said on Thursday.

"We had interaction with Nokia last week (on 5G). Next we are going to present about our requirements after which field trail concept is there. It should start before the end of this financial year," Shrivastava told reporters today.

In a bid to transform rural India into digital one, the BSNL has decided to set up 1070 4G Plus Wifi hotspots in Kerala. The move will be the part of its expansion plans to reach out to rural customers. Kerala Circle CGM of BSNL, P T Mathew told reporters here that it would be set up in the next six months. “We are planning to set up 1070 4G Plus Wifi Hot spots in rural exchanges in the state with the support of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) within the next six months,” he said.

NEW DELHI: State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. expects to get the government’s approval soon for using airwaves in 700 MHz band for offering 4G services, and 5G services in the future, chairman Anupam Shrivastava said.

The state-run telco has written to the Department of Telecom (DoT) to allocate airwaves in the 700 MHz band for rolling out 4G services.

BSNL mobile subscribers will soon be able to piggyback on the network of private telecom player Vodafone in Delhi and Mumbai.

The move will improve the coverage of BSNL's mobile network in these two areas where it doesn't offer services.

Reliance Jio added nearly 5 million users ( 4,786,324 subscribers ) and controlled 9.94 per cent of the telecom market in May, shows the latest report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

In May, Airtel led in terms of overall telecom market share, with 23.59 per cent subscribers. It was followed by Vodafone with a 17.86 per cent share, and Idea with 16.62. Reliance Jio was a distant fourth with 9.94 per cent subscribers.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.