Landlines are Back in Favour

QUEEN'S ROAD: Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited’s offer of free calls at night has helped arrest the decline in landline connections.

The service is available between 9 pm and 7 am for new as well as existing customers, and covers both local and national calls.

According to a senior BSNL official, since the scheme was launched in May, the net loss in traditional wired connections has come down.

“In April, Bengaluru BSNL lost 2,859 lines, while in May and June, after the introduction of the scheme, that number came down to 2,120,” the official said.

Only 3,267 new customers walked in for landline connections in April, while in May the scheme helped increase the number to 4,281 in May. The number was similarly high in June.

However, the number of customers giving up their BSNL landline connections—over 6,000 in the past couple of months — exceeds those looking for new connections.

Around 80 per cent of BSNL landline connection-holders in the city continue with the service, thanks to the combo offer: free landline with broadband.

A subscriber has to have a landline connection to use the broadband service.

Of late, new landline connections are usually sought mostly for business, the official explained.

Venita Xavier, a resident of Hennur, feels landlines are the easiest to use. “I’ve had a landline at home since 1997,” she said. “I use mobiles when I am outside, but otherwise this is what I prefer.”

Earlier, in the dial-up Internet days, you needed a landline to get an Internet connection. With private players coming in, this is no longer mandatory, said software engineer Sunil Rajashekar.

“With advanced technology, landlines have taken a back seat. The only problem is, they are not portable,” he said.

With BSNL, the exodus of landline users has been halted, at least for now.

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