State-run telecom service provider BSNL has triggered a new wave of broadband war in India. They have just announced 1000 Mbps or 1 Gbps broadband speed, using next generation optical fiber based network.

We are terming this as a clear cut case of broadband war, because in the last few days, we have reported how Reliance Jio is going to launch their Jio Fiber broadband services, having 100 Mbps speed, with a cap of 100 GB per month cap.

Airtel too had launched 100 Mbps broadband Internet last year.

This is broadband war, because what BSNL will now offer is 10 times more speed than what Jio will be offering right now or what Airtel is right now offering.

10 times more broadband speed by the state carrier means that private players will have to match the standards now. And this will trigger both speed and price war within broadband sector.

1 Gbps Broadband By BSNL: The New Reality?

The new offering by BSNL is being spearheaded by Telecom minister Manoj Sinha himself, as he launched the next generation optical-fiber based technology, which will empower BSNL to offer ultra-high speed broadband connection across 44 Indian cities.

This new service, called next generation optical transport network (NG-OTH) is being developed at an expense of Rs 330 crore.

Explaining the shift in BSNL’s approach, the Minister said, “BSNL has successfully implemented a major project of next generation optical transport network (NG-OTH) technology in 44 cities covering state capitals and major cities. Under this project, total 100 major cities including state capitals shall be covered in phased manner during current financial year,”

BSNL Enhances Their Broadband Network

As per BSNL chief general manager (CGM) Anil Kumar Jain, right now BSNL is offering 24 megabit per second speed for fixed line broadband connection and 100 mbps speed on FTTH network.

After this upgrade, the existing 10G capacity will be enhanced to 100G capacity, thereby propelling maximum speed of 100 Mbps for BSNL broadband users.

He said, “With this upgradation, we will be able to provide connection with speed of up to 1 gigabit per second on FTTH networks in all state capitals and other top cities,”

As per reports coming in, NG-OTN infrastructure will assist BSNL to boost existing services such as Bharatnet, SWAN, NKN as well. The next gen optical fiber network can be maintained seamlessly, as the tracking of damage becomes easy.

As of now, ACT Fibernet is the only company which is providing 1 Gbps broadband speed in Hyderabad.

How will Jio and Airtel respond to this new offering by BSNL? We will keep you updated..