Mumbai, April 1: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the state-owned telecom operator in India, is set to launch an additional 60,000 4G sites across the country. This expansion comes on top of the 100,000 sites already established, with over 98,000 of them commissioned to date. These new sites aim to cater to both new and existing customers. But who exactly are these customers? Most users are located in rural areas where alternative networks are unavailable, or they are low-income customers who cannot afford other options.
BSNL’s resurgence story appears less thrilling today. If it were a privately-run business, BSNL might not have survived. The company has been posting profits but holds the lowest average revenue per user (ARPU) in the industry. While it attempts to roll out 4G, many competitors are already researching and preparing for 6G technology.
The success of BSNL could significantly benefit citizens. However, taking a more skeptical view, there are few positives. Even with the 4G rollout, BSNL may struggle to thrive unless a significant influx of customers from Vi occurs. Yet, BSNL’s network quality may not meet customer expectations, especially when compared to the service levels provided by private telecom companies.
When comparing costs, Jio and Airtel are not significantly more expensive than BSNL today. The latter has been quietly increasing its prices. Private telecoms offer superior data services and coverage, which many customers are willing to pay extra for. This raises the question: who is BSNL serving at this point? What issues is BSNL addressing, and for how many customers? It will be intriguing to observe BSNL’s trajectory by the end of this decade.
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