‘BSNL plans to achieve of 3 cr connection target in next 5 yrs’
As the government is committed towards the revival of state-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the only public telecom service provider is also trying its best to connect every dot to protect the ‘dying’ telecom entity from becoming obsolete. Though private players are rolling out 5G services and augmenting their technology to be ready for the 6G, the BSNL, which is still in the age of 3G, is doing its best to launch the 4G services. In an exclusive interaction with Millennium Post, CMD of BSNL PK Purwar claimed that the BSNL plans to achieve a total target of 3 crore connections in urban centres in the next five years. Excerpts:-
What’s the latest update on the launch of 4G services?
BSNL is ready to roll out 4G services across the country by the end of 2023. The deployment of 4G networks will start from north India and simultaneously it will cover the entire country. We have already started deploying our 4G network in Amritsar, Pathankot and Jalandhar. The company has installed around 200 sites in these centers. At the initial stage, we were expecting teething problems, but we are sure we would overcome this challenge too. Things are moving very fast and in the right direction. The launch will happen very soon.
What are your plans to stabilize the eroding market share in broadband connections?
It’s a fact that we are facing the challenge of eroding market share in broadband connections. It’s happening due to the low speed being provided to subscribers. We are proactively working on it and upgrading to FTTH (Fiber-to-the-Home). In the case of broadband, everyone needs high speed, and for maintaining high speed, fibre is required. However, when it comes to FTTH, every circle has experienced positive growth. On the other hand, in the mobile sector, we did observe a negative growth.
The reason for this loss is not having 4G services as in urban parts the 4G ecosystem is very good. It is very encouraging that despite all these constraints, we have increased our revenue this year. We are also aiming to have around 2 crore connections in rural India and 30 lakh connections in urban areas, and in the next five years, the company plans to achieve a total target of 3 crore connections in urban centres.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked BSNL to provide FTTH broadband connection to cover 5,00,000 households. What are your plans to achieve the target?
BSNL has checked its two segments, urban and rural. If we check the urban segment, we have increased our customer base from 2 lakh to 30 lakh in the past four years. The first target of 1 lakh subscribers was achieved in just three months. Afterward, the department increased our target to 5 lakh customers. We have already installed 3 lakh connections and plan to complete the remaining by March 2024. With this, the total connections would increase to 8 lakh.
