Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced that it will offer free unlimited voice calling benefits to all its landline and broadband customers, for a limited period, as a part of its festive celebration. With the new development, BSNL customers will be able to make unlimited voice calls to any landline and mobile number across India, the state-owned telecom operator has highlighted in a press note. BSNL has also revealed its Bharat Fiber extension plans and specified that it is set to bring the optical fibre-based service to a list of towns and villages in the country in the next couple of months.

Celebrating the festival of light — known as Diwali — with its landline and broadband customers, BSNL has kicked off the free unlimited voice calling benefits that will be valid for 24 hours between Sunday, October 27, and Monday, October 28. The operator has also asserted in its press note that it is set to bring “umbrella coverage” of Bharat Fiber service across India by March 2020. The service was launched back in January this year to counter Reliance Jio’s Jio Fiber by offering broadband access at Rs. 1.1 per gigabyte.

“We appreciate that on the festival occasions, our customers share greetings with their friends and families and as calling experience through BSNL landline is the best, so best wishes should be done through [the] best possible medium,” said Vivek Banzal, Director, BSNL, in the note.

Earlier this week, BSNL revised its Rs. 429, Rs. 485, and Rs. 666 prepaid plans to offer unlimited voice calls in Delhi and Mumbai circles. The operator also announced recently that it would float tender for 50,000 4G sites next month to enhance its network coverage in the country.

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet gave in-principle approval for merging BSNL and MTNL. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a briefing said that BSNL and MTNL would raise a sovereign bond of Rs. 15,000 crores for their revival and assets of both operators worth Rs. 38,000 crores would be monetised.

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