BSNL to unveil prepaid broadband services

After the prepaid mobile telephony seized a majority of telecom subscribers, prepaid broadband could be the next to change the game for the rising broadband market. The country's largest broadband service provider, BSNL, is ready to roll out a new 'prepaid' segment on the lines of prepaid mobile coupons, where one can buy a recharge coupon, instead of paying a monthly rental.
A BSNL broadband user now has to pay a minimum monthly rental of Rs 250, which he may easily forgo by opting for the prepaid broadband connection. "Under the prepaid segment a user would need to have a BSNL modem and he can then purchase a recharge coupon from the market. Like in the case of mobile phones he would then have to recharge his account using the coupon number," a senior company official told FE . The user can use his login to access his account on BSNL broadband connection across the country.
"The move is bound to catch up with other broadband service providers soon. The prepaid mobile telephony has a 90% market share and that looks very encouraging for the prepaid broadband segment. BSNL is the market leader in broadband and its entry into this segment is going to have a big impact on the market", an analyst said.
The state-run telco has a 58% of the broadband market, and a subscriber base of over 36 lakh. The company draws revenue of Rs 1,800 crore from broadband and is hoping to increase the figure to Rs 4,500 crore this year.
Sources say that going a step further, the BSNL landline and broadband services would be bundled so that a user needn't pay a minimum monthly rental of Rs 180 on the BSNL landline that users have to currently pay. Also in case a user has a BSNL landline and a BSNL prepaid broadband connection he wouldn't even have to shell out the Rs 250 minimum rental on the broadband and the Rs 180 rental on the handset, which add up to a saving of Rs 430 monthly rental.