After starting out with private cellular service providers, I was amongst the first to take the plunge as soon as BSNL services were launched.
I would be using a rating Scale of 1-5, (1 being lowest and 5 highest)
1-Lowest, 2-Usable, 3-Meduim, 4-Good, 5-Excellent.
NETWORK / COVERAGE -4
No, the rating of 4 is not a mistaken score for coverage. In fact from near 1 (lowest) when CellOne was launched, the network coverage has been steadily imcreasing and improving. Gone are the days when you had to try 4 times to get a call through and when you had to live with frustrating instances of calls being dropped. Please note that there are regional variations in coverage, mainly between LSA (Local Service Areas or each state) within which your calls are local. A good example is the fantastic coverage in a particular state that I recently visited, having clear and continous coverage in remote corners.
Then again, once saturation is reached, infrastructure has to be added, which BSNL has called for tenders. Another interesting note is that in the speed to provide national coverage, certain pockets in cities have been missed with low signal strength. Overall, a rating of 4 indicated a mature network, with robust support for voice, which has to be improved to provide complete data solutions matching that of certain private operators.
CALL QUALITY-4
Another reason for concern during past years, have almost been addressed with reasonable to good call quality being evident currently, which is being constantly improved with additional BTS (cell sites) being added. Again, note that there are regional imbalances based on cellular density. Overall, BSNL call quality does not seem lacking and is close to being good.
PRICING / BILLING-5
Have nothing to add here, as BSNL billing has been absolutely flawless and does not match provate operators in terms of billing variations or the vigour of pursuing a customer who might be late by couple of days in paying due to genuine reasons.
The rate plans, especially the 525 is excellent and amongst the most well rounded and comprehensive plans for home calling, roaming, STD and messaging, currently with free calls of 300 thrown in.
Another plan that comes to my mind is the Airtel 299, with 600 free minutes to mobile. (Am not sure if its limited to corporates)
ROAMING-5
The best coverage pan India, and amongst the cheapest rates for both incoming and outgoing. I suppose a rating of 5 does justice to the excellent Roaming facilities offered. A note of caution is that unlike private cellular operators, BSNL users on roaming cannot log in to other networks if avaiable.
CUSTOMER SERVICE-4
Not traditionally a BSNL strong point, with the PSU image of the company. But then, if your network is fine and if your billing is proper, you hardly have a reason to call the customer service..right? I have a Airtel connection in addition to the BSNL, and to put things in perspective, ive had no reason to call them either. However, BSNL customer service has evolved a lot down the years, being more mature and responsive to the needs of the customer. You will not have any problem conveying your issue and getting it addressed, though the agent may not have excellent english skills, which we can live with. Hence a rating of 4 is what I would rate them.
VALUE ADDED SERVICES-3
Referring to GPRS, MMS, VOICE MAIL etc. These services are provided by BSNL, but the problem is that these info looks better on the bsnl.co.in site, as there seems to be a puacity of people within BSNL who can provide technical insight regarding setup and use.
However, voice mail, sms and other services are good and on par with other operators.
Overall, BSNL has a rating of 4 (GOOD) primarily due to their coverage, rates, billing and availability.
pros-coverage, rates, fair billing, roaming
cons-value added services, customer service