BSNL - Love it or hate it. Review on BSNL Dataone Broadband Service

I have been a BSNL landline phone customer of Visakhapatnam Telecom district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, from the year 1988. I obtained a landline telephone connection under OYT General category after depositing Rs. 2000/- and waiting for 2 years.

I used to experiment a lot with dial-up modems in the initial period. Internet had not arrived fully then. I would access Bulletin board Services (BBS), located in metros like Chennai, Delhi and Calcutta to access e-mails and make friends on-line. I invariably got huge STD bills as in those days BSNL did not make any distinction between a voice call and a data call.

Later on when Internet became popular, I subscribed to private dial up service providers like Dishnet, Satyam, etc and also ran huge telephone bills. Initially the pulse rate for dial up services were the same as voice calls, later on the special numbers that started with 1 was introduced and were charged at a lower pulse rate. That is true even today. I had opted for detailed billing where STD calls are listed clearly with duration and dates. However local calls details were never made available and I always was of the firm opinion that they were inflated. There was no way of checking. But I must praise BSNL for one thing. I never found a mistake with my STD billing.

For a Govt undertaking the services offered by BSNL are pretty good. You may hate them for sloppy service but there are many features that you could fall in love with. The only problem I have noticed is their left hand does not know what their right hand is doing. The BSNL web site is also quirky and rarely gives the complete picture. Introduction of BSNL Customer service centers some years back is an effort in the right direction. Some folks at BSNL are very helpful. Of course they are a few rotten apples everywhere

In the month Nov-2007 I applied for a Broadband connection under plan H500C, a combo offer, where Rs. 500/- covers both broadband usage (1.5 MB per month) and telephone rental charges with free calls of 150. All additional calls were billed at the all India call rate of Re1/- per minute.

I was lucky to get my connection in Dec-2007. The local technicians at Sector-8 Exchange of Steel plant township, Visakhapatnam AP, normally used to plain telephone connections were not very savvy with the broadband DSL model installation. I had to do most of the software installation and stuff myself. It took 2 or 3 whole days for the connection at the exchange to be made through and then get my user ID and password, etc.

The DSL modem I was supplied is a Taiwanese one called Starcom, type UT300RTU, which has an USB as well as a LAN port to connect to the PC. The modem came with a small instruction booklet which was really useful. You have to set the LAN TCP/IP properties and set IP address and DNS server address to 192.168.1.3 and 61.1.96.96 respectively to get started.

My billing cycle from inception was bi-monthly. The moment I took a broadband connection it got converted to monthly billing cycle, which meant extra trips to pay bills. I never opted for ECS payment so far as I am scared of over-billing. I found that even today BSNL AP does not accept on-line payment through website, other than for clients having internet banking with HFDC or Axis bank.

In the first bill after modem installation I noticed I was charged Rs 2400/-, double the actual amount for outright purchase of DSL modem. When I contacted the customer care I was told it was an error on their part. The same error was repeated for many of the customers in my neighborhood. I hardly think anyone at BSNL have done it intentionally. A deposit amount of Rs. 500/- was also charged towards Broadband connection However for refund I was asked to contact the AE of my area. Customer care centers it seems have limited powers in such matters. For the next two months I had to contact many officials of BSNL, lodge many written complaints and send many e-mails (which went un-replied).

I finally managed to get my refund Rs. 1200/-, in the form of adjustments against my subsequent bills. All official of BSNL were ever courteous and they were very apologetic. It was a real surprise to me.

This H500C plan was not suitable for me as I was exceeding my free download limit of 1.5 GB every month. In June-2008 I opted for unlimited Broadband plan of H750. At that time I did not know or rather I was not properly explained about them by the customer care people about the difference between plan H750 and H750PL. What I read on BSNL web site and what was explained to me by customer care were in contradiction. After converting to broadband plan of H750 unlimited, where I could have unlimited broadband access all 24 hours of the day I came to know that there was an additional phone rental of Rs.180/- pm With 50 free local calls. I found that plan H750PL is same as H750 except for the fact that there is no rentals and no free calls. Any one can see that plan H750PL is superior. I am at a loss to understand why a scheme like H750 is in existence?

Recently BSNL announced a rebate of 20% on Broadband user charges for PSU and central Govt. employees. I have applied for it and getting a good rebate and reduction in service tax on it. My monthly bill with plan H750PL is always less than Rs.1000/- and I have no tension of exceeding any download limit. I am still waiting for the facility of on-line payment of bills from internet. I am very satisfied with my BSNL broadband experience so far. Hope it remains that way. Thank god for small mercies.

Some people say, the speed is very low in H750 plan as compared to H500. Anyway either way with my usage I still think my bills with 750 plan is lower. For now BSNL is the only way to surf......