My Mother purchased BSNL Cellone in about 2006. Me and dad only purchased it for her, not just becoz for contacting but becoz my dad was too using BSNL offered from his office and calls from his BSNL to any other BSNL mobile is free! And since my Dad got transferred to an Eastern Indian State, he always talks with her daily for about atleast 2 hrs!
The ==Quality of the call is good== and ==never gets low Signal on BSNL== ever. Even the Signal stays strong when she is outside the city limits wer as even the Airtel signal drops.
The call rate are very nominal and are almost same as the Airtel. But Vodafone is costly.
**The Downfall of BSNL is** -
1) Recharging/Top up for the BSNL is a Pain. Most the shops dont have the top up for BSNL and we only have to go to BSNL office to get top up. This is atrocious.
2) the internet is a Crap on BSNL cellone. Very Slow.
3) The validity has to be renews every month and not like Airtel or Vodafone wer the Validity automatically increases with the latest recharge.
4) Customer service is way too Worst. They never mostly resolve the problem quickly. I struggled and called the Service for over 5 times to activate the "DND".
**Verdict** - Overall, if u r considering BSNL to BSNL free calls, go for this and also better signal. But if internet and service is ur priority, Dont go BSNL Cellone!