My cousin brother in Bangalore has BSNL DataOne. And I used to stay with him on weekends before my marriage, so I have used it considerably too.
BSNL DataOne is good in every way except one -- reliability! As a business customer, I need reliability. I need to know in advance when there’s going to be downtime, and also how long it’s gonna last. Also, if there’s a problem, I expect quick resolution.
At my home now, I have Airtel Broadband. With them, downtime is minimal and whenever it does happen, I am informed of the timings in advance via SMS (and it’s usually at early morning). I really appreciate that.
With BSNL, this kind of service is almost impossible to expect. You never know when there’s going to be downtime, how often it’s going to be down and also how long it’s gonna last. If it’s down, you’re basically at their mercy!
But this one thing apart, it’s good in every other way. Plans are cheaper than others and there’s a good variety of plans to suit different categories of users. And the unlimited downloads at night (between 2-8 AM) is a good feature. Equipment is also of good quality, and installation is up to standards.
Also, thanks to initiatives taken by proactive Union ministers for IT & Communications (firstly Dayanidhi Maran and then A. Raja), BSNL was also the first to introduce 2 Mbps plans in India. This at a time when no service provider was thinking beyond 256 kbps. So we must compliment them on that. But reliability is why I chose Airtel Broadband, though it meant paying a bit more. Being a business customer, I cannot afford to be disconnected from the world. Had I been in College, it would have been BSNL Data One without doubt!