There was a rumor/news/buzz going on in our forum regarding the discontinuation of Unlimited plan on EVDO service. It has created a stir in the existing customers, and many are even planning to move on to some other ISP. And it was confirmed that BSNL has brought some new changes in it’s EVDO tariff after some customers got a notification stating the change in plans and regarding the Unlimited plan and even BSNL published the new plan on their site to fuel the fire.

So I decided to get the official news straight from the BSNL and sent a mail to JTO in Bangalore who is in charge of EVDO service. He is friendly and is in touch with me since I started this website and forum. After exchanging some mails, I’ve gathered the official news here in this post. Hope you all find it useful.

I have got a good news and a bad news for ‘all’ BSNL EVDO users in India. Let me start with the bad news first. (will be bitter for existing users).

Earlier BSNL had just one unlimited plan in its EVDO service ever since they started it. But now for some reasons (I’ll tell you why) it has split the service into different plans and introduced 5 new tariffs for its customers. Thankfully it has retained its unlimited plan, but now it comes at a cost higher than before. All these 5 plans is effective from November 1st of this year. Here’s how the new tariff is like:

Via the official BSNL site.

From Nov 1, all users will be automatically moved on to the Rs 999.00 Unlimited plan by default . Users can then switch to different plans of their choice by submitting a request in change of plan at their nearest telephone exchange.

Now the good news is that BSNL is upgrading the network from Rev 0 to Rev A EVDO technology. This means you get speeds up to 3.1 Mbps over the conventional 2.4 Mbps. And added to this, BSNL will shortly enable all India roaming (National Roaming) (technical work is almost over, testing is in progress)in 1 – 2 months with no additional cost.

While this is one reason for the hike in price, another reason is to reduce the load on their network and hence to reduce the bottleneck in the data flow. This thus increases the overall performance of the stability and speed. This will be possible because there will be less simultaneous logins, since many people will switch to/prefer limited data plans.

Sooner or later, the existing customers will have get their device exchanged after BSNL upgrades their network to Rev A. This is because the old devices do not support Rev A technology. New users need not worry about this. However BSNL will notify you to get your device exchanged to switch to Rev A network after the upgrade work is finished in your circle.

Well to conclude, Rs. 999.00 for Unlimited plan is steep. Considering the quality of service now available in most parts of the country, it is expensive. Only urban customers will get good quality in service after upgrading to the Rev A technology. Apart from that, this is the only service which will satisfy the needs of people who are in constant move and for those who do not have cable (ADSL)  internet in their area, since it offers good network coverage and unlimited usage at considerable price tag.

Once again, I would like to thank the JTO of Bangalore for giving out such a great information to me. And to all those who have questions in their mind, can drop in their queries in this thread in our forum rather than posting a comment here, because the chances of getting reply here in comments is very bleak. Happy surfing.

Take a poll:

Thanks to our forum members for updating us in this thread. If BSNL starts EVDO service (be it CDMA 1x or EVDO), please kindly inform us in that thread which helps others like it does in this post.

P.S: This post was scheduled to be published on 29th of Oct. Due to some mistake while scheduling, the post didn’t make it. So it’s republished.

vaithy, has collected a huge list of coverage detail across 96 areas in Chennai city. The list includes the “Name of the area” and “Expected speed”. To read this list,  go here.

And vaithy has another good news for Chennai users as well. BSNL is now upgrading from REV 0 network infrastructure to REV A network technology which is capable of delivering speeds upto 3.1 Mbps against conventional 2.4 Mbps of REV 0 technology.

If you have any information like this, pleas let us know and we would be very happy to publish it over here with pleasure.

Maharashtra (MH): In Maharashtra this service is now available in Virar and Vasai located at Thane District in suburbs of Mumbai.

Tamil Nadu: In TN, Thirunager in Madurai is the addition. People can now avail this service in this place.

Kerala (KL): Kottayam, Gandhinagar, Pampady, Pala, Changanacherry (Kottayam District) and Kodungallur in Thrichur District.

I would like to thank to Anush for letting us know about the MH Coverage, sasikumardr and Aravind Jose. T for KL coverage and sgarasu for TN Coverage. If BSNL starts EVDO service (be it CDMA 1x or EVDO), please kindly inform us in this thread which helps others like it does in this post.

According the report from two members of our forum, BSNL EVDO service is now available in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh and Palakkad, Kerala. The Ujjain user ashwinisoni, has reported that the speed ranges from 1 to 1.5 Mbps approx and the Palakkad user living in Akathethara has reported the speed of upto 1.6 Mbps max and according to his friend report the speed tops 2.2 Mbps near Olavakkode.

Thanks to our forum members for updating us in this thread.

If BSNL starts EVDO service (be it CDMA 1x or EVDO), please kindly inform us in that thread which helps others like it does in this post.

To avail this service, you will have to get your device reconfigured at your nearest BSNL Telephone exchange. This information is from a Bangalore user in our forum. If you are living in some other city, please make a query about the reconfiguration for National Roaming facility (be specific about roaming) at your nearest exchange.

Thanks to jameandrew for this information. You can discuss more about this news over here.

If you consider this hike as a bad news, you might be wrong. BSNL will soon enable Roaming facility for this service. So that you can use this device in other cities all over India where the service is available without any extra charges.

Thanks to one of our member for updating us about this news in this thread. You can use the same thread for the rest of the discussion.

So EVDO seekers in Kolkata must wait a little longer to let BSNL enable EVDO network in your area. If you can’t wait, you can get the EVDO device now itself and start using CDMA 1x network which is offering stable 144Kbps in Kolkata. Later when BSNL enables EVDO service in your area, you can get your device reconfigured and start using EVDO network. One of our forum member, Sanipan has started using EVDO device with CDMA 1x network. Go here to read what he says.

We have not yet received any review from users in Trichy and Durgapur, West Bengal . If you avail it, please do write a short review on the service and it’s quality/performance and your user experience and we will appreciate your contribution and publish it here.

Thanks to our forum members for updating us in this thread.

If BSNL starts EVDO service (be it CDMA 1x or EVDO), please kindly inform us in that thread which helps others like it does in this post.

So in order to continue using EVDO (2.4 Mbps) service in Bangalore, users have to get their device reconfigured at their nearest BSNL telephone exchange. Getting your device reconfigured is free and may take few hours (if the person in charge of the duty is busy).

If you are using CDMA 1x (144 Kbps) service, you don’t have to reconfigure your device.

Thanks to our members, jameandrew and shaaradu for sharing the information regarding the change in main exchange and PRL.

If you still have any doubt, please feel free to post a question in this thread.

Our members in forum has reported the availablity of this new service. And I would like to thank them.

We have not yet recieved any review from users within those cities. If you avail it, please do write a short review on the service and it’s quality/performance and your user experience and we will appreciate your contribution and publish it here.

Thanks to our forum members for updating us in this thread.

If BSNL starts EVDO service (be it CDMA 1x or EVDO), please kindly inform us in that thread which helps others like it does in this post.