Onlykashmir.in News Desk
On the occasion of India’s 80th Independence Day, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s Srinagar unit rolled out a series of infrastructure milestones and promotional offers, extending greetings to citizens while reaffirming its commitment to strengthening digital connectivity across Jammu and Kashmir.
The state-run telecom operator confirmed that 4G Saturation Towers under the Universal Service Obligation Fund project have been made operational, with additional towers currently being commissioned under the Phase IX.2 expansion scheme. The expansion targets remote and previously underserved pockets of the Valley, including Keran, Machil, Tangdhar, Narnag, Doodhpathri, Aharbal, Toshmaidan and Gurbatan, areas that have historically struggled with patchy mobile and internet access due to difficult terrain.
Officials said BSNL is simultaneously scouting newly proposed sites to close the remaining communication gaps in the region, a process that has gained urgency as digital services, e-governance platforms and online education increasingly depend on stable connectivity even in the state’s remotest corners.
As part of its Independence Day push, BSNL unveiled a set of subsidised offerings tailored to government establishments, public sector undertakings and ordinary citizens. Chief among them is a satellite phone infrastructure package, priced at ₹1,34,166 plus applicable taxes, designed for deployment by government and PSU bodies. The company said the service is intended to support Defence forces, disaster response teams, high-altitude remote engineering operations, border patrols and adventure travel safety, an offering with particular relevance in a border region prone to both natural disasters and connectivity blackouts in high-altitude zones.
On the consumer side, BSNL introduced its ‘Fiber Super Plus OTT’ broadband plan at a fixed monthly charge of ₹1,199, bundling access to 16 OTT platforms including JioHotstar, SonyLIV and ZEE5. An Independence Day promotional discount of ₹88, valid for two months, brings the effective monthly outgo down to ₹1,111.
For mobile subscribers, the ‘Freedom 2.0’ entry offer allows new users to obtain a SIM card for just ₹1 until September 12, 2026, bundled with 1GB of daily high-speed data, 100 daily SMS and unlimited voice calls for 24 days. Separately, the JK-20 annual recharge plan, priced at ₹2,398, continues to offer 2GB of daily high-speed data, unlimited calls and 100 SMS per day. Customers who recharge under the scheme before September 12, 2026, will receive an additional 47 days of validity, extending the total plan validity to 412 days.
The announcements, made by the Office of the Senior General Manager, BSNL Business Area Srinagar, come at a time when the state-run carrier is working to reclaim market share from private telecom operators while positioning itself as the connectivity backbone for Jammu and Kashmir’s border and hill districts.
