The mela will be held on Sept 19-20 from 10 am to 9 pm at all BSNL customer service centres in Bangalore and telephone exchanges in the suburban areas that come under BTD.

Principal General Manager of BSNL (BTD), Shubhendu Ghosh, said that there will be no installation charges of Rs.. 250 on new landline bookings during the mela. In addition, customers will also get caller ID telephones free with every new booking.

With BSNL having a unique distinction of registering an actual increase in landline connections in Bangalore, BTD also has an attractive offer for broadband bookings.

“Even for those going in for broadband bookings, we will waive the installation charges. Further, we are also offering the modem at half the cost in case of outright purchase at the mela, or there is also a free trial offer for 15 days. After 15 days, the free offer will be automatically converted to the plan chosen by the customer at the time of registration,” Ghosh said.

“Increase in landline use is due to heavy demand for broadband connections in the city. BSNL has nine lakh landline customers (with 8 lakh urban customers) and 2.1 lakh broadband users under BTD,” Ghosh explained.
“More than 75 percent of our broadband users are home users and SOHO customers. As against 65,000 broad connections extended last year, we hope to see the numbers go up year-on-year. The two-day mela would definitely add to the numbers as regards landline and broadband connections,” he added.

Other offers at the mela:

• Reconnection cases – In order to get back its customers, BSNL is offering a five percent discount on the bills pending for more than six months
• On the spot redressal of excess metering and complaints pertaining to broadband usage
• Bundled offer of broadband with HCL PC/Laptop
• Bundled GSM handset with Beetel mobile offer
• Wireless internet connections – EVDO/NIC
• Wireless FWT PCOs

“BSNL is making all efforts to score over private players. The increased usage of our landlines and broadband stand testimony to customers' satisfaction in BSNL’s services. We are hopeful that customers in both Bangalore and the suburban areas under BTD will make best use of the offerings during the mela,” Ghosh said.