Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state-run telecom operator, has been offering AirFiber services long before Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. The only difference is, that Airtel and Jio offer it on top of their 5G networks, while BSNL doesn't. The AirFiber services are offered over the unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum bands - 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Today, we will not discuss the plans offered by BSNL Bharat AirFiber or the plans offered by the private telcos. We will discuss, as an alternative, is BSNL Bharat AirFiber a good option over the same service offered by Airtel and Jio!

BSNL Bharat AirFiber

The underlying premise of the technology offered by Jio/Airtel and BSNL is the same in the case of AirFiber service. Everyone is offering a high-speed connectivity solution to customers who don't have access to fiber broadband services in their homes or offices. It is essentially a Wi-Fi service, over the mobile networks.

BSNL offers speeds from 30-50 Mbps with AirFiber plans. Airtel and Jio offer plans with higher-speeds. Airtel offers up  to 100 Mbps, while Jio offers up to 1 Gbps in download speeds. Thus, if the need is for plans with speeds that are above 50 Mbps, then going with Airtel and Jio is a better option. There's one more thing to consider here. The private telcos offer OTT (over-the-top) benefits to consumers with their AirFiber plans, while BSNL doesn't.

BSNL's services, however, are present across India. This is where the major difference comes. Airtel is only present in areas, while Jio has rapidly expanded the presence of AirFiber in the country over the last few months. BSNL is also offering free installation of AirFiber to customers of all accounts until March 31, 2025. It means a direct benefit of Rs 500, which would have been charged otherwise.