BSNL Bharat Fiber Service to Take on Jio GigaFiber With Rs. 1.1 per GB Data Charge

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is set to counter the Jio GigaFiber service by launching the broadband service called "Bharat Fiber". The new high-speed, fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service is designed to offer 35GB data per day for domestic use at as low as Rs. 1.1 per GB. The latest move comes weeks after the state-owned operator upgraded its unlimited broadband plans to offer up to six times more data than before. The operator also recently brought a 25 percent cashback offer on its annual and half-yearly broadband plans to take on the likes of Jio GigaFiber and Airtel broadband services.

To kick off the new development, BSNL has started taking Bharat Fiber bookings through its online portal. BSNL confirmed the launch in a press statement released over the weekend.

"We realised that now customers are demanding super-fast Internet and have started owning more electronic gadgets and entertainment tools than ever before," said Vivek Banzal, Director of CFA, BSNL board, in the statement. "So our Fiber to Home technology has been upgraded and we are happy to announce the launch of Bharat Fiber which will be an affordable yet able to meet the huge data demand of our customers."

As we mentioned earlier, the Bharat Fiber service by BSNL provides subscribers with 35GB data per day at as low as Rs. 1.1 per GB charges. The operator hasn't revealed the technology powering the Bharat Fiber. However, Banzal in the statement says the aim of the new service is to provide connectivity in "every home" of the country.

The launch of the Bharat Fiber service is certainly aimed to counter Reliance Jio's GigaFiber broadband service that was launched back in August last year but is yet to see a broader rollout. The company aims to take the GigaFiber service, which is designed to deliver up to 1Gbps speeds, to 50 million homes in 1,100 cities across the country. However, the Mumbai-headquartered company hasn't announced any concrete plans around the formal rollout of the Jio GigaFiber service.

Last month, BSNL brought a 25 percent cashback offer for subscribers picking up its annual and half-yearly broadband plans. The operator also upgraded its unlimited broadband plans to offer as much as six times more data than before. It essentially revised the Rs. 675, Rs. 845, Rs. 999, Rs. 1,199, Rs. 1,495, Rs. 1,745 and Rs. 2,295 broadband plans to provide up to 35GB data per day.

Will Jio GigaFiber have the same impact that Jio 4G did? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.