[condor]

For all the flak that BSNL faces, I can say that I'd rather go to them than the private service providers. I would say most of the flak is not really called for. My bill for last month was high, and all I had to do is drop in at the office. They checked it on the spot, and provided refunds. Staff were polite & friendly. There is someone to go & speak with.

Compare this to Airtel. They took an installation advance, then said no facility in our area for broadband, and still have not refunded the amount. Repeated escalations to nodal officers or others have been in vain.

[devil_klm]

I had BSNL broadband. I would like to continue with it. But unfortunately in my new apartment, builder is providing NOC only for Airtel to provide broadband connection. Is it not possible to have NOC for multiple vendors for an apartment. Is the builder tie up with private connection to get some commission??

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by devil_klm

I had BSNL broadband. I would like to continue with it. But unfortunately in my new apartment, builder is providing NOC only for Airtel to provide broadband connection. Is it not possible to have NOC for multiple vendors for an apartment. Is the builder tie up with private connection to get some commission??

Yes. This is one thing Airtel is doing very frequently of late. They provide the intercom equipment to the builder at a very low or 0 cost. They even agree to maintain it free for 2 years. However, they seek exclusive rights to the landline/broadband and even the DTH connections in the society.

You have 2 options,
1. If it is the builder who is doing this you can keep your fingers crossed that once the society is formed and the general body meeting happens they will be more willing to look into the whole thing

2. File a RTI or start with the PGP portal. The advantage with government bodies (DD, BSNL etc) is that they are considered national assets and for the betterment of the general populace. Private parties can't stop them as they are always deemed to be for the advantage of a few. Remember, years back, DD forced the BCCI to share all the cricket feeds in India and also pay DD for the coverage when others had to bid for it!

[devil_klm]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Yes. This is one thing Airtel is doing very frequently of late. They provide the intercom equipment to the builder at a very low or 0 cost. They even agree to maintain it free for 2 years. However, they seek exclusive rights to the landline/broadband and even the DTH connections in the society.

You have 2 options,
1. If it is the builder who is doing this you can keep your fingers crossed that once the society is formed and the general body meeting happens they will be more willing to look into the whole thing

2. File a RTI or start with the PGP portal. The advantage with government bodies (DD, BSNL etc) is that they are considered national assets and for the betterment of the general populace. Private parties can't stop them as they are always deemed to be for the advantage of a few. Remember, years back, DD forced the BCCI to share all the cricket feeds in India and also pay DD for the coverage when others had to bid for it!

Thanks a lot for the clarification .
This really helps. In fact some of the residents are in favor of Air-tel and they bring the fact to the builder that they need air-tel and air-tel provide the intercom for free of cost. Builder said once the society is formed, society can decide on other service providers. I am not much interested to go with private service providers due to some of the bad experiences from past.

Does BSNL too provide intercom free of cost?
As a first step, i will raise a complaint in PGP portal. Let me know the steps for RTI too.

[Samurai]

The only real advantage of BSNL line is that it is an excellent Proof of Address. And the phone generally works. Beyond that I don't trust them. Few months ago I tried their broadband plan paying 8K/month for my office. It wasn't working 50% of the time, and when it did, it gave less than half the throughput. I cancelled it after 6 months.

[devil_klm]

I am happy with the billing part of BSNL so far. Any complaint on bill, they are ready to check and reduce the amount in next bill. When i disconnected Reliance broad band few years back, they disconnected it on the day i requested and collected equipment in next 20 days. But the final bill was including their service for those 20 days which according to them is the standard procedure. also horror stories on airtel and reliance for sending legal notice after an year or so to the users saying they haven't paid some of the bills and have to pay hefty penalty or be ready for legal battle.
Peace of mind on the billing part and support for a public sector organization are the only things which make me in favor of BSNL.

I have Airtel 3G dongle from my office as a back up for worst case and using Vodafone mobile net connection

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Few months ago I tried their broadband plan paying 8K/month for my office. It wasn't working 50% of the time, and when it did, it gave less than half the throughput. I cancelled it after 6 months.

Originally Posted by devil_klm

I am happy with the billing part of BSNL so far.

Actually I was the most skeptical when I started hunting for a ADSL broadband some 9-10 years back. The cable thing was an utter flop as every second day the cable used to break somewhere and interrupted the connectivity and when it used to run the throughput used to be BAD. In ADSL my first choice was Airtel and then Reliance. Reliance wanted me to deposit some 4000 rupees under different heads as application fees before they were willing to inspect the premises and let me know! That rang alarm bells in my mind. Airtel was next. They dilly dallied for 1.5 months. And finally said they can't provide me connection because their wiring ran through the main road and my house was inside the lane. Never mind that mine was the 4th house inside the lane. Their requirement was apparently they needed at least 4 connections to justify laying the wire inside the colony!

Finally the choice left was the one which was not even a choice for me to begin with. BSNL! Anyhow I applied and within 7 days the phone connection and the internet arrived. Today after 9 years and residence change experiences I can tell you that my experience with BSNL has been just superb. They are extremely customer oriented. With all the self service portals and tollfree CS numbers things have become only simpler. And in case you are not satisfied just escalate. And if you can't do that simply keep opening the same ticket. Twice I have seen that a ticket opened for the same matter 3-4 times draws the attention of their big guns and after that the entire local exchange gets on to the mission to salvage the situation.

Today I can't think of dropping my BSNL connection. In fact I am hunting for a new house and even zeroed in on one. However, one of the challenges seems to be the same... Airtel has a monopoly. I am exploring options as leaving Tata Sky or BSNL is out of question.

P.S. : Its not like BSNL is the most trouble-free service in the world. However, as I have found, it is easier to resolve things with them than the bhankas that Airtels and the likes get into. I still remember how 10 years back Airtel first deducted roaming charges from my prepaid connection even 2 days after I was back in Hyderabad and then tried to make me believe that my phone was still in roaming and catching the Calcutta network.

[Samurai]

I am talking purely about broadband, not mobile services. Since my office is in rural place, I really struggle to find reliable internet, so I keep trying different vendors.

I have used Tata Docomo 3G, Tata Tele Services leased line, Dishnet, Touchtel, Airtel broadband, Airtel 4G, BSNL broadband, BSNL 3G, Reliance leased line, ACT and D-VoiS. In my experience, the company that gave me worst service is BSNL broadband.

Right now I am using ACT, D-Vois, Airtel 4G & BSNL 3G. Adding Reliance leased line once again this week.

If BSNL is very efficient in Hyderabad, that could be a local phenomena.

[kvish]

Now BSNL has started inserting ADS on all websites. This is illegal and annoying.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by kvish

Now BSNL has started inserting ADS on all websites. This is illegal and annoying.

Are they doing it for https connections too? Then it is really grounds for fraud.

When a government agency does illegal things, it is very hard to reverse it unless you sue them in court and get a judgment, even then they will resist. Consider how Karnataka RTO behaved even after the high court ruled against them collecting LTT after 30 days.

Unlike RTO, you can get rid of BSNL.

[Pequod]

Have used BSNL Broadband (residential) extensively over the past 6 years, in two different locations viz. Panjim, Goa and Villupuram, TN, and I have been very satisfied with their service. I am currently on a 4Mbps/30GB plan, and I get speeds around 3.5Mbps consistently, with practically no downtimes to speak of. They are also very responsive to any complaint and make multiple follow-ups till resolution. All they lack is the hype of Airtel or Reliance, in my experience at least.

[kvish]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Are they doing it for https connections too? Then it is really grounds for fraud.

When a government agency does illegal things, it is very hard to reverse it unless you sue them in court and get a judgment, even then they will resist. Consider how Karnataka RTO behaved even after the high court ruled against them collecting LTT after 30 days.

Unlike RTO, you can get rid of BSNL.

Just on http (I dont think they can do it for https can they?). I see ads on team-bhp/news18 and so on. I guess getting rid of BSNL is the only option.

[sagarpadaki]

Even i am a happy camper with BSNL broadband. Ours was among the first 100 connection when they launched their services in 2005. Although the service was not so great until 2007-08 with frequent line drops, bad service and arrogant staff. But from the past 4-5 years, they have been superb with uptime being nearly 100%. Yes, connection sometimes slows down, but its far and few in between. Plans are costly compared to the speed and FUP they offer. But it serves my needs. Hence sticking with them for more than a decade now.

The service might not be so good in Non metro areas

[HalfOctave]

For past few months, I am facing some issues in my BSNL DataOne. I am currently using the ULD 845 package which offer 2MBPS till 6GB and 512kbps afterwards. But offlate, the my Free Isage Limit gets exhausted very fast (unauthorized use is ruled out since I regularly change my WiFi password and check the DHCP clients).

Anyone aware of the billing cycle of BSNL? As in when does the couter for the data usage gets reset?

The BSNL selfcare site is so poorly designed that it is almost impossible to extract data out of it.

[smrtdvl]

Originally Posted by HalfOctave

For past few months, I am facing some issues in my BSNL DataOne. I am currently using the ULD 845 package which offer 2MBPS till 6GB and 512kbps afterwards. But offlate, the my Free Isage Limit gets exhausted very fast (unauthorized use is rules out since I regularly change my WiFi password and check the DHCP clients).

Anyone aware of the billing cycle of BSNL? As in when does the couter for the data usage gets reset?

It is from 1st of every month. You can install my bsnl app from play store and it lets you keep track of unbilled data and voice usage.