P. K. Purwar, chairman and managing director, BSNL

State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) witnessed several key developments during 2023. In addition to receiving approval for the third revival package, totalling Rs 890.47 billion, from the union cabinet, the telco made progress with its 4G roll-out. P. K. Purwar, chairman and managing director, BSNL, spoke about the company’s performance and its 4G/5G roadmap at various industry events during the past year. Edited excerpts from some of his addresses…

4G roll-out blueprint

BSNL plans to complete the roll-out of 4G services across the country by June 2024. We have already done the hardening required for a network with 200 sites, and are in the process of installing 3,000 4G sites in Punjab. We will gradually increase network deployment to 6,000 and further to 9,000, 12,000 and 15,000 sites per month. After June 2024, we will be moving to 5G services. BSNL has sufficient spectrum to deploy 5G services once the 4G roll-out is completed. At the beta stage of 4G, around 35,000-40,000 customers are using BSNL 4G services on the indigenous stack as of October 2023. The plan is to prioritise high-revenue circles for launching 4G. In Kerala, which is the largest circle for BSNL, subscribers have high purchasing power and we are, therefore, on track to provide 4G services soon.

BSNL’s market position

BSNL has a market share of 9 per cent across the country and 22 per cent specifically in Himachal Pradesh. We have set a target of three years to achieve 15-20 per cent market share in the country. In addition, in Himachal Pradesh, our market share will increase by 1.5 times.

Third revival package

With the revival package, debt reduction will be achieved through internal accruals. By the end of financial year 2022-23, the debt had been reduced by Rs 100 billion to Rs 222.89 billion. Further, we plan to revamp our information technology, human resources and technology platforms to make them more consumer friendly in order to compete in the market.

BSNL’s performance

BSNL’s number of customers has reduced slightly, but we have been able to maintain more than Rs 70 billion in revenue from the mobile segment. Additionally, the enterprise segment is growing at more than 15 per cent on a year-on-year basis, and we continue to maintain that growth trend.

In the fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) segment, BSNL has been adding 100,000 customers per month and has more than 3.4 million subscribers. We witnessed an increase in revenue in the past two years, and expect this trend to continue into FY2024. With respect to FTTH, every circle has experienced positive growth. However, in the mobile sector, we observed negative growth. Nonetheless, the government expects BSNL to turn net profitable by 2026-27.

Financial and network expansion

We believe FY2024 will be a challenging year due to a 17 per cent increase in revenue targets under the MoU with the Department of Telecommunications. We have requested all circle heads to improve their performance in the second half of FY2024. Further, the circles that performed poorly have been asked to provide a detailed plan. Even as we roll out indigenous 4G and 5G services, there is substantial scope for revenue generation across all existing BSNL services.

With respect to expansion, we currently have 1,300 sites in the field and we will connect those sites with 4G. Moreover, there will be an option to upgrade these sites to 5G in the future. We will install 250-300 new sites in urban areas, and an additional 650 sites will be developed for 4G saturation. We are planning to launch 5G at 700 MHz for better coverage and capacity.

Over the past four years, BSNL has increased its business by 15 times. We had 0.2 million connections four years ago, and today, we have 3 million connections.

Future expansion

Our target is to have 100,000 4G towers by June 2024, with a focus on making a full-service launch by that time. 6G will enter the commercial market by 2028-30, and BSNL will take steps to ensure it remains on par with any other operator in the country.

Our focus is to grow the FTTH and enterprise businesses. Further, once the deployment of 4G networks begins, there will be a greater focus on the mobile services segment. During the next three years, BSNL plans to invest Rs 300 billion in network upgradation.