Robert J. Ravi, ITS, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is not just being revived; it is being redefined. For the first time in 18 years, BSNL has posted back-to-back quarterly profits, achieving what many deemed impossible, building a world-class indigenous telecom infrastructure while transforming from a loss-making PSU to a profitable, security-focused, future-ready operator. In an interview with tele.net, A. Robert J. Ravi, ITS, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL, discussed the company’s key focus areas, timelines for 5G roll-out and future priorities. Excerpts…

Last year, you spoke about the rapid increase in the number of on-air towers to 71,000. Now that BSNL closes in on the 100,000-tower mark with its indigenous 4G stack, how has this scale improved its competitive standing in rural versus urban markets? Do you have a definitive timeline for the first commercial “Made in India” 5G services in 2026?

When we spoke last year, I told you that BSNL had chosen the path of indigenous design. Today, I can tell you that this path has led us somewhere extraordinary. In just 18 months, we have commissioned about 97,000 indigenous 4G sites – one of the fastest 4G deployments globally. As honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared while inaugurating the indigenous 4G stack from Jharsuguda, Odisha, BSNL’s 4G stack embodies the swadeshi spirit – reflecting India’s journey from dependence to confidence. Honourable Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia rightly noted that this achievement, accomplished in just 22 months, places India among the elite group of five nations with indigenous 4G capability. Our network now handles more than 4 PB of daily data traffic, providing 4G services to more than 20 million citizens, including 2 million first-time digital users who had never experienced high-speed connectivity before BSNL reached them.

In rural India, our competitive standing has fundamentally shifted. Through the 4G Saturation Project funded by Digital Bharat Nidhi, we have specifically targeted uncovered villages in remote, border and left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected areas. Under this programme, more than 16,500 4G sites have already connected more than 20,000 previously unconnected villages.

As honourable Minister of State Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani has affirmed, BSNL carries the goodwill of the people. Our unified architecture is built around a single app, a common digital platform, and importantly, India’s first network-level spam protection, detecting 1.6 million scam attempts daily – a distinctive capability within the Indian telecom landscape.

Critically, every one of our 97,000 4G towers is designed for seamless 5G upgrade through software updates and minor card replacements, with no infrastructure replacement required. This is the advantage of building a cloud-native, 5G-ready architecture from day one rather than retrofitting legacy systems. Thanks to the decisive support of the honourable Prime Minister Modi, who approved the landmark third revival package, where BSNL was allocated 5G spectrum across the 700 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands, ensuring that BSNL is strategically ready for future upgrades.

BSNL’s key new initiatives include:

  • Voice over VoWi-Fi: On New Year’s Day 2026, BSNL announced the nationwide roll-out of VoWi-Fi, also known as Wi-Fi calling, across all telecom circles in the country.
  • Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered spam protection: By August 2025, an AI-powered spam protection solution had been deployed nationwide across all BSNL circles, marking India’s first network-level SMS protection, with no app installation required, no settings to configure and no user intervention needed whatsoever; protecting customers.
  • BiTV (BSNL intranet TV): BSNL’s BiTV service, launched in partnership with leading over-the-top players, represents India’s first intranet TV service for mobile users, offering over 450 live TV channels, movies, web series and documentaries to all BSNL mobile subscribers regardless of their recharge plan.
  • IFTV (intranet fibre-based TV): BSNL’s IFTV service, launched nationwide in October 2024, represents India’s first fibre-based intranet TV offering, delivering over 500 live TV channels and pay TV options to all BSNL fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) customers.
  • Genarative AI (GenAI) chatbot VAANI: BSNL’s GenAI-powered chatbot “VAANI” offers a one-stop customer support service for all its mobile and Wi-Fi customers. Launched in October 2025, VAANI enables customers to conveniently recharge services, pay bills, explore available offers and tariff plans, register complaints and book service requests directly through BSNL’s website.
  • National Wi-Fi roaming: BSNL’s national Wi-Fi roaming service, launched in October 2024 alongside the company’s rebranding, represents an industry-first offering that no other pan-Indian FTTH provider has matched.
  • Direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity: BSNL and Viasat successfully showcased India’s first D2D satellite connectivity, enabling two-way messaging and SOS communications on commercial Android smartphones or add-on companion devices, without requiring specialised satellite hardware.
  • Private 5G for mining operations: BSNL, in partnership with other companies, deployed India’s first private 5G standalone network for mining operations, initially at the Amlohri open cast coal mines in Madhya Pradesh and subsequently expanded to Kerala.
  • Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) Cognitive Network Operations platform: BSNL’s indigenous 4G network operates through TCS’s Cognitive Network Operations platform deployed across 38 data centres nationwide, representing one of the world’s largest implementations of AI-native telecommunications infrastructure.

BSNL achieved a major milestone of turning profitable in the third quarter of FY 2025. With a revenue target of Rs 275 billion, which segments – Bharat Fibre (FTTH), enterprise services or new 4G mobility users – are contributing most significantly to BSNL’s sustained financial recovery?

Let me share some numbers that tell a remarkable story of transformation, one that many industry observers said was impossible for a PSU to achieve.

In the second quarter (Q2) FY 2026 (quarter ended September 2025), BSNL’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew more than 2.8 times, jumping 178 per cent year on year to Rs 15.52 billion from Rs 5.58 billion in Q2 FY 2025. Total revenue rose 13.63 per cent year on year to Rs 59.2 billion.

Early indicators for Q3 FY 2026 show continued momentum. We expect to maintain our EBITDA growth trajectory, with consumer mobility continuing to drive revenue expansion as 4G network saturation reaches completion and 5G preparations accelerate.

Consider our FY 2025 full-year performance, wherein EBITDA more than doubled from Rs 21.64 billion to Rs 53.96 billion, pushing margins from 10.15 per cent to 23.01 per cent. Net losses narrowed by 58 per cent from Rs 53.7 billion to Rs 22.47 billion as Q3 and Q4 delivered consecutive quarterly profits of Rs 2.62 billion and Rs 2.8 billion respectively.

This transformation extends across the organisation. Our record capex of Rs 260 billion demonstrates aggressive reinvestment in infrastructure rather than merely cost-cutting. This investment capacity was enabled by the government’s strategic capital infusion of Rs 250 billion, reflecting honourable Prime Minister Modi’s conviction that BSNL is central to India’s digital future.

BSNL has been instrumental in connecting over 200,000 villages. How has the implementation of the ring-based fibre architecture you mentioned last year improved network stability in remote areas? What is your goal for rural internet connections in 2026?

Rural connectivity is not just a commercial opportunity for BSNL, it is our founding purpose and the very reason the government invested so decisively in our revival. While India’s private telecom sector has contributed to urban connectivity, BSNL’s mandate extends to serving the most remote citizens – because digital inclusion is a democratic imperative aligned with the “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas” vision.

BSNL serves as the single project management agency for operating and maintaining the entire BharatNet network – a responsibility that spans from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, as a part of the Amended BharatNet Programme.

Last year, I spoke about the ring topology transformation. The new ring architecture connects gram panchayats in groups of 8-10, with each ring providing self-healing redundancy. If one fibre segment fails, data automatically routes through the opposite direction of the ring, eliminating downtime.

The improvement in network stability will be dramatic:

  • The mean time to restore will reduce from days to minutes for fibre cuts within ring-protected networks
  • Network availability will improve to over 98 per cent in ring-protected gram panchayats versus 92-95 per cent in linear deployments
  • Service continuity will be maintained during extreme weather events, which would previously cause multi-day outages.

Beyond fibre, our 4G Saturation Project, funded by Digital Bharat Nidhi, specifically targets the hardest-to-reach locations. We have committed to connecting 24,680 uncovered villages in remote, border and LWE-affected areas. Over 14,500 sites under this programme have already connected 26,700 previously unconnected villages. These are not standard deployments. We operate at elevations of up to 14,500 feet in Ladakh. We have deployed a number of sites across Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur. Many towers are solar-powered, creating India’s largest cluster of green telecom sites – with sustainability and connectivity advancing together.

Our goals are ambitious but achievable:

  • Ensure 100 per cent 4G coverage of all target villages under the Saturation Project
  • Achieve 98 per cent availability across ring-protected BharatNet gram panchayats
  • Expand Bharat Fibre to a number of rural FTTH connections, bringing fibre-speed internet to rural homes and enterprises
  • Launch commercial direct-to-device services covering 100 per cent of the country, including remote and maritime zones
  • Extend VoWi-Fi coverage to enable voice calling over any Wi-Fi network – valuable in rural areas with Wi-Fi.

In our last interaction, you spoke about integrating AI for churn prevention and a spam-free network. A year later, how has the AI-powered network operating system evolved to improve the quality of service? What impact has this had on reducing customer complaints and improving brand trust?

A year ago, I spoke about our vision for AI-powered network operations. Today, I can share concrete results that position BSNL at the frontier of intelligent telecom – not following global trends, but setting them. This is the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat that honourable Prime Minister Modi envisioned. As honourable Communications Minister Scindia declared, this indigenous stack is a message to the world that India is not only a service provider but also a technology producer.

We launched our AI-powered anti-spam protection system in partnership with our vendors. The results have exceeded expectations:

  • Approximately 1.6 million scam attempts prevented daily
  • Over 97,000 unique fraudulent links identified monthly through AI pattern recognition
  • Over 330,000 scam numbers flagged monthly for blocking and regulatory
    action
  • Over 99 per cent efficacy against smishing attacks while maintaining legitimate OTP delivery.

What makes our approach distinctive is network-level protection complementing the broader industry efforts in combating digital fraud.

The impact on customer experience and brand trust has been substantial:

  • Spam-related complaints have reduced significantly since AI protection deployment, with customers reporting a significant decline in fraudulent messages on the BSNL network
  • Network quality complaints are decreasing as AI-driven optimisation has improved coverage and speeds across the indigenous 4G network; however, work is still in progress.

AI capabilities require human expertise to develop, deploy and manage. BSNL has signed training partnerships with leading telecom equipment manufacturers such as Ericsson, Qualcomm, Cisco and Nokia to establish the Telecom Innovation, Research and Training Centre at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, where over 2,000 people are expected to be trained annually in 5G, AI/machine learning and advanced networking. BSNL’s investments position the company to capture this transformation while building domestic capability rather than importing it.

BSNL has evolved from a traditional carrier to a technology-driven digital enabler. Looking at the 2030 roadmap, how has BSNL positioned itself within the Bharat 6G Alliance to ensure that India’s public sector leads the global shift towards terahertz communication?

As one of the fully indigenous networks in India, we serve as the bridge between research institutions and commercial deployment. When IITs develop terahertz prototypes, BSNL can provide the network environment for real-world testing. When the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) advances quantum key distribution, BSNL deploys it operationally. We are not merely a future customer of 6G technology; we are an active participant in its creation.

BSNL’s contribution has been in providing real-world deployment environments for testbed technologies, sharing operational data on propagation characteristics, and eventually conducting commercial pilots of terahertz solutions. Our indigenous network architecture – built on open standards without vendor lock-in – enables the seamless integration of research outputs that demonstrate the advantages of India’s indigenous open-standards approach.

Our roadmap for 2030:

  • Deploy India’s first commercial 6G network using indigenous 6G research
  • Expand quantum-secure communications from government networks to critical infrastructure and eventually enterprise customers
  • Integrate terahertz backhauling for high-density urban deployments where fibre is impractical
  • Assist in the export of quantum and 6G solutions to emerging markets seeking technological sovereignty, and extend the multi-nation interest in our 4G stack to next-generation technologies
  • Establish encrypted server infrastructure with post-quantum cryptography, protecting all BSNL data centres and customer communications.

Through national research initiatives and our partnership with C-DOT, BSNL is positioned at the forefront of next-generation communications. BSNL will ensure that India’s public sector leads the global shift towards terahertz communication and quantum encryption.