Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) poor internet service is giving tough time to subscribers who accused the telecom operator of failing to ensure proper service despite charging tariff for high-speed fixed line internet connectivity.
Scores of subscribers complained that even uploading and downloading a small file on BSNL broadband internet takes “long time” while the recently launched Bharat Fiber was no different.
A BSNL official said the reason for the poor internet connectivity was that the telecom provider has failed to upgrade its infrastructure in Kashmir which continues to result into inconvenience to the customers.
He said the erratic service was the main reason that the government-owned company was losing its subscriber base in Kashmir.
“There is no denying the fact that BSNL broadband, Bharat Fiber and radio broadband service are very poor in entire Kashmir Valley. For all customers, commercial, private and public in general the services of BSNL have proved a bane and not a boon because the services are below the prescribed mark of TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India),” a source said.
He said the bandwidth was inadequate due to which the broadband/data services of BSNL was erratic.
“There have not been enough efforts to upgrade the bandwidth for data service. At present the BSNL Kashmir is having a bandwidth capacity of 10G whereas requirement is more than 20 G. The present bandwidth is also catering to both the Union territories of J&K and Ladakh,” said the source.
While the BSNL has failed to upgrade its infrastructure, the brunt of this poor service is faced by the subscribers who despite spending huge money were not getting the proper services.
“Ironically in Kashmir during any untoward incident, BSNL broad and fixed lines are best bet as the government has restrained from disconnecting them during such times. This is the only reason people have installed BSNL broadband, but the service is so poor that even for mailing you need to wait for long time,” said Ajaz Ahmad, a subscriber.
General Manager, BSNL, Rajnish Kumar said “broadband internet speed of BSNL is up to the mark. But sometimes due to damage to optical cables on Srinagar-Jammu highway, our services get disrupted. That may be the reason why some areas may have slow internet speed.”