Reliance Jio Effect: BSNL Halves Unlimited Calls Rental for Landlines to Rs. 49 a Month for New Subscribers

State-run telecom operator BSNL on Monday halved the monthly rental for unlimited calling from landline to any network on Sundays and night hours to Rs. 49 from Rs. 99.

"To attract new customers to experience wireline services, BSNL launched a very cost effective and affordable promotional landline voice plan 'Experience LL 49'," BSNL said in a statement.

Under this plan, a fixed monthly charge of Rs. 49 is applicable for the first six months and after that, the customer shall be charged as per the general plan of the respective area.

BSNL customers can make unlimited calls to any network every Sunday and during night hours (9pm to 7am).

BSNL is the only operator which is offering such a low-cost landline voice plan in the country, said N K Gupta, Director (CFA), BSNL Board.

Last week, to counter threat from Reliance Jio, state-run telecom firm BSNL slashed 3G mobile Internet rates by about three-fourths, bringing down the cost of per GB data to as low as Rs. 36 under a special pack.

"Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to offer up to four times extra data on existing data STVs (special tariff vouchers) available in the market," BSNL said in a statement.

Under Rs. 291 plan, a customer will get four times more data at 8GB with a validity of 28 days against 2GB earlier. The Rs. 78 plan will offer double data at 2GB.