Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the government-owned telecom and broadband provider in India, announced on Saturday that it would soon initiate a program that would see the rollout of optical fibre-based connections in Pune, Maharashtra with speeds of up to 100Mbps, according toa report by DNA.

BSNL principal general manager V.K. Mahendra announced in a press conference on Saturday that the company had completed the installation of its Fibre to the Home (FTTH) network in the city and successfully tested it out. He said that it was now looking to offer 1,000 of these connections to high-value customers in the city over the next three months.

Starting at ₹ 1,500 ($30) for a 2Mbps connection capped at 8GB of bandwidth per month and going up to ₹ 83,999 ($1,700) per month for a 100Mbps line with unmetered bandwidth,these Internet connectionsare definitely not for the mass market in the country. The company’s current plans start at ₹ 250 ($5) per month for 1GB of bandwidth at speeds of 2Mbps and max out at 24Mbps with a 250GB data cap at ₹ 6,999 ($140).

Although very expensive right now for the average consumer, the new FTTH connections will mark a giant step forward for Internet connectivity in India. For a country that has largely been stuck at speeds of 256Kbps due to the incorrigible pricing tactics of privately-held ISPs in the country, BSNL’s bringing of faster and more reliable broadband to India is a significant achievement. We can only assume that the prices for these connections will go down with time and help their spread among the Internet-using populace in the country.

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Story byAayush Arya

Aayush is the India Editor & Apps Co-Editor at The Next Web. When not writing, he enjoys spending his time bungling about on Twitter or(show all)Aayush is the India Editor & Apps Co-Editor at The Next Web. When not writing, he enjoys spending his time bungling about onTwitterorGoogle+, and answeringemail.

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