BSNL’s New National Wi-Fi Roaming Lets FTTH Consumers Connect to Hotspots Outside Their Homes

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched a National Wi-Fi Roaming service in India which lets its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) consumers connect to Wi-Fi hotspots and enjoy access to high-speed internet at locations outside their homes. This service was introduced alongside the unveiling of the state-run telecommunications provider's new logo and six other new initiatives, which also included spam protection measures, fibre-based intranet TV service, Any Time SIM (ATM) kiosks, and direct-to-device satellite connectivity service.

BSNL's Wi-Fi Roaming Service

As per BSNL, its National Wi-Fi Roaming service is aimed at minimising data costs for its existing FTTH consumers. They can connect to the Wi-Fi hotspots established by the telecom operator across the country at no extra charge.

To access this service, BSNL consumers need to:

1. Navigate to the link: https://portal.bsnl.in/ftth/wifiroaming.
2. Register for the "BSNLWiFi_Roaming" service.
3. Search for a network named "BSNLWiFi_Roaming" at their location.
4. Select the "BSNLWiFi_Roaming" network in the device's Wi-Fi settings.
5. Enter their username) and the password received via SMS.
6. Then, connect to the Wi-Fi roaming network.

The device will then automatically connect to any BSNL Wi-Fi hotspot within its vicinity, as per the telecom operator.

Other New BSNL Services

Alongside its National Wi-Fi Roaming service, BSNL has also recently introduced the first fibre-based intranet TV service dubbed IFTV in select regions in India. It leverages the telecom provider's FTTH network to provide users with live TV services, including over 500 channels. BSNL says that data used for TV streaming is independent of the consumer's data packs and will not be deducted from the FTTH quota.

It has also debuted a direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity service developed in collaboration with Viasat, a California-based communications technology company. With this service, the telecom provider aims to offer seamless connectivity to users even in the country's isolated corners, such as the Chandratal Lake in Spiti Valley or a remote village in Rajasthan. It will allow them to make emergency calls even when cellular network or Wi-Fi connectivity is unavailable.