As netizens trend #BoycottJio, can BSNL capitalise to reclaim past glory in new telecom war?

India was a much dimmer country before 2016. Not in terms of lights or minds — of which we certainly boast no dearth — but in the vast number of smartphone users that remained muffled under the oft-unreachable cost of network and data prices. Then Jio entered the market, and nothing was ever the same.

With the price of 1GB of data the same as a packet of chips, browsing the internet was no longer just a luxury exclusive to urban residents. The massive disruption that Reliance Jio wrenched into reality with its hyper-competitive prices paid off well, with the company commanding 35% of the market a mere five years after launch. Meanwhile, a struggle to compete with private players eroded the government telecommunication firm BSNL to a paltry shade of its former glory.

By 2019, reports showed that $4 in the world. However, fast forward about eight years since Jio’s launch, and we seem to be on the brink of a nationwide preference reversal.

Earlier this month, Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone announced massive tariff hikes in their prepaid and postpaid plans, increasing data rates by around 30% in some cases. Further, the telcos even removed the ‘unlimited 5G’ features from many of the more affordable plans. These changes, quite understandably, did not sit well with the networks’ users, many of whom had become dependent on mobile data for daily work.

Netizens call for boycott of private providers

As a result, #JioBoycott quickly began to make rounds on social media. Many also advocated for a move towards BSNL, as evidenced by the ‘BSNL ki ghar wapsi’ trend, noting how the state-owned telecom company had far cheaper plans compared to these private organisations.

However, BSNL has suffered from a shrinking subscriber base for years now, a pattern stemming from many factors, such as an inability to keep up with advancements in technology. For instance, the company is still working on the rollout of its pan-India 4G network, while private players such as Jio not only have the same established but have also deployed next-gen 5G services in hundreds of cities.
However, BSNL has since taken matters into their own hands and has offered two new affordable plans in a bid to push unsure netizens back into their backyard. In response, Jio quietly introduced three new ‘True Unlimited Upgrade’ add-on plans.

As the second network war grinds into gear, let’s look at whether the decision to port to BSNL will prove to be a good one.

BSNL pricing and comparison

From a price standpoint, BSNL certainly seems like the best choice. While Jio, Airtel, and Vi all provide monthly data packs for Rs 299, a similar BSNL pack — with arguably better features — only costs Rs 199.
Further, the state-owned network has introduced a new plan for Rs 249, which allows for 2 GB of internet usage per day for 45 days. For comparison, a similar Rs 249 plan from Jio and Airtel only allows 1 GB for 28 days. Vi allows a slightly higher per day usage at 1.5 GB, but still falls short of the BSNL precedent. All of these packs come with unlimited calls and the same number of SMS allowances.

How fast is BSNL compared to other providers?

If you’re downloading a ton of stuff, go for BSNL. However, if you need it done quickly, you’re probably better off with another provider. As per data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in 2022, Jio continues to lead the pack with an average 4G download speed of 21.21 mbps. VIL and Bharti Airtel follow at 17.9 mbps and 13.7 mbps. Our underdog BSNL caps out at 6.1 mbps.

However, the gap is significantly smaller when it comes to upload speed. While VIL takes the lead this time at 8.2 mbps, the remaining private providers clocked somewhere between 7.3 and 6.1 mbps. BSNL, once again, was the slowest at 5.1 mbps.

It may also be notable that the post-cap speed — the speed after you reach your daily data limit — is slightly higher for private providers. While Jio and Airtel provide a post-cap speed of 64 Kbps, BSNL’s speed falls to just 40 Kbps.

How fast does my net even need to be?

With all these speed discussions, it’s natural to ask: how fast does my net even need to be? The answer differs from usage to usage and from platform to platform. If you ask streaming apps such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, they recommend at least 12 mbps for regular use and at least 40 mbps for HD streaming. But you can also make do with 8 mbps if you’re streaming at a lower quality.

However, if you want to play online mobile games such as PUBG, many recommend a minimum download speed of 24 mbps and an upload speed of 8 mbps.

If you are a regular video-conferencer and want an HD experience, Google recommends a minimum bandwidth of at least 4 mbps if there are 10 video call participants present. Outbound signals must be at least 3.2 mbps.

Coverage and consistency

BSNL has garnered somewhat of a reputation as the network for the adventurer, especially in rural parts of India. While it is difficult to find statistics for that conclusion, the people of rural India have a clear favourite. As per 2023 TRAI data, $4, far higher than its private competitors as well. However, it may be notable that the government has announced phase-wise plans to provide 4G connectivity to India’s some 45,000 odd villages.
Meanwhile, there is a clear and resounding winner when you look at the figures for common locations, such as places where most users live, work, and travel. $4gives the crown to Jio for all coverage and consistency metrics in this matter. Some of these categories include Availability (percentage of time connected to 3G or a better signal), 4G Coverage Experience (mobile coverage experience in users’ everyday locations), and Consistent Quality metrics (percentage of tests that meet minimum performance expectations, such as watching videos, playing games, and attending video conference calls).

It may be notable that BSNL scores poorly on all of these Opensignal metrics. For instance, Jio passed 63% of the tests conducted to see how the network performs under pressure, such as in the case of streaming HD videos. While Vi and Airtel scored in the 50s, BSNL scraped through an abysmal 13% of the tests. Even when the tests weren’t very demanding, such as in the case of general browsing, Jio passed 84% of the tests, while BSNL only passed 37%. A similar story arises when the 4G Coverage Experience is discussed.
These figures make more sense when you look at the infrastructure involved. While BSNL is working on installing 1 lakh 4G base stations by the end of this year, Jio already boasts approximately 5.32 lakh 4G LTE stations that cover 95% of India’s population.

These results do little to paint BSNL in an exceptional light. However, there are promising plans in motion that could improve the quality of services. For instance, BSNL authorities $4 that its 4G network will serve as the foundation for future upgrades to 5G, which could help with the provider’s speed issues. However, only time — and perhaps a little bit of trust — will decide the outcome.