Knowing the difference between BSNL, VSNL and MTNL
BSNL, VSNL and MTNL are the three main service providers for telecommunications in India. BSNL and VSNL have been around for some time, but MTNL is a newcomer to this industry appearing with the restructuring of the telecommunication industry in the country. All three are acronyms with the following business names:
- BSNL – Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited
- VSNL – Videsh Sanchaar Nigam Limited
- MTNL – Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
VSNL was the brainchild of the Indian government to provide international telecommunications. BSNL has been providing domestic long distance through the entire country. MTNL is the company that provides the same services as BSNL but only in the cities of Delhi and Mumbai. BSNL was formed in 2000 and today is the seventh largest telecommunications company in the world.
The telecommunications industry in India went through a restructuring plan in 2002. It was only then that VSNL started to provide national long distance calling services in addition to the international service it already provided. The Tata Group took over this company in February of 2008 and it is now known as Tata Communications Ltd. The services that it provides include wholesale and retail sales of bandwidth and data and international sales of voice services for the wholesale market.
The main difference between BSNL and MTNL is in the broadband that they use. For BSNL it is NetOne and for MTNL it is Triband. MTNL is a much faster Internet service and is more under the control of the government. Some of the cell phone products cold by MTNL are:
- Dolphin (post paid)
- Trump (prepaid), and
- WLL (CDMA)
It uses DSL for its broadband connection and also offers extra features such as games on demand and videos on demand.
BSNL offers free telephone services but it also sells:
- Prepaid India telephone cards
- Account Card Calling
- Virtual Private Network, and
- Universal Access Numbers
It uses ACDL as the broadband service and the cellular services operate on the GSM platform. It also has a customer service desk that is very efficient and reliable. One of the most popular of its cell phone brands is CellOne.
Although the number of people that subscribe to MTNL is increasing, BSNL is by far the largest with 90 million customers. MTNL offers 3G services in India and operates under the name of MTNL 3G Jadoo. BSNL also offers this service and it includes video calls, live TV, the 3G video portal and full length movies. Internet Protocol Television is available through BSNL, but through MTNL offers the first 3G Blackberry service in India.