BSNL

Transfers to states from Centre are down 20 per cent compared to last year in the April-October FY25 period

The supply of equipment for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL's) 4G rollout began in September last year, and by October-end this year 50,708 4G sites have been installed while 41,957 sites are on-air, Parliament was informed on Thursday. The equipment is 5G upgradable, Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. To a question seeking specific timelines set for BSNL's 4G and 5G rollout across various states and Union Territories, the minister said that in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, the state-owned telecom firm has placed a purchase order for indigenously developed 4G sites for pan India deployment. "Supply of 4G equipment has started from September 2023, and as on October 31, 2024, a total of 50,708 4G sites have been installed and 41,957 sites are on air. The equipment is 5G upgradable," he said. To another question on whether BSNL-appointed Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has recommended strategies for the

The total debt on four major telecom operators in the country stood at Rs 4,09,905 crore in the financial year 2024, with state-owned BSNL recording the lowest debt among competitors at Rs 23,297 crore, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. According to data shared by Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Vodafone Idea registered a debt of Rs 2.07 lakh crore, Bharti Airtel Rs 1.25 lakh crore and Jio Infocomm Rs 52,740 crore as of March 31, 2024. BSNL had a debt of Rs 40,400 crore in FY22, which was reduced to Rs 28,092 crore with the help of a revival package and financial support from the government. "In 2019, the first revival package amounting to around Rs 69 thousand crores was given that brought down the operating costs of BSNL/MTNL. In 2022, a revival package amounting to around Rs 1.64 Lakh crore was given. It focused on infusing fresh capital, restructuring debt, viability gap funding for rural telephony etc," Sekh

The Delhi High Court has set aside BSNL's decision to withdraw a purchase order placed by it with a private IT company in relation to providing central billing and internet protocol data recovery (IPDR) solutions. The state-owned telecom company had rescinded the multi-crore contract with Millennium Automation Private Limited, dated July 19, for 'Supply, Installation, Testing, Commissioning and Annual Maintenance of IT hardware and related software for BSNL's centralized Mobile Billing System and Probe based IPDR Management Solution', alleging collusion and mala fide on part of the company in securing the purchase order. Justice Sanjeev Narula, in a judgement passed on November 19, said that while the sanctity of the tendering process must be zealously guarded and any deviation must be met with appropriate consequences, the argument of "compromised integrity" in this case could not be sustained in the absence of any "concrete material" to support BSNL's claims. The judge stated that

BSNL continued to be the largest gainer despite lower growth in subs, adding 0.8 million in September

Telecom among worst-performing departments in terms of monetisation

The technical system deployed by the government is blocking 1.35 crore fraud calls daily and has helped save people's assets worth Rs 2,500 crore till date, Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia has said. The minister, in an interview with PTI, said most of the spam calls originate from servers outside the country, and the systems have been able to block the majority of such fraudulent calls. "In terms of the number of marketing calls you get in your phone, the number of fraud calls that come in, we have put in place a full system to be able to tackle that. Our DoT fraud detection network has saved close to about Rs 2,500 crore of people's assets today, as we speak, through Sanchar Sathi and Chakshu," Scindia said. The systems have led to the disconnection of close to about 2.9 lakh phones and blocked close to about 1.8 million headers that were used for sending out messages, he added. "Along with that, (there) was another vicarious method through which people woul

State-owned telecom giant BSNL has added subscribers in every single month in the last quarter and its subscriber base has grown by 50-60 lakhs as it scripts a turnaround story after recording operating profit in the last two years, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Wednesday. Speaking at Express Adda, he said Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is offering telephone services in remotest village and a network upgrade is improving its service. In June last year, the Union cabinet had approved an Rs 89,047 crore revival package for loss-making state-owned telecom operator deploy 4G and 5G services in a market dominated by private players. Debt-laden BSNL, grappling with poor infrastructure, had posted losses for the past 12 years. "In terms of financials, yes, BSNL was bleeding. But in the last 2 years, we have had a positive EBITDA. So we are not in the red on EBITDA," he said. While EBIDTA is positive, its bottomline was still in red. The minister did not say when the

State-run telco launches anti-spam network, direct to device satcom, intranet TV services, and a new logo

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Tuesday launched a slew of new offerings and initiatives, ranging from spam blockers to automated SIM kiosks and direct-to-device services, as the state-owned firm vowed to proactively woo subscribers and claw back market share. Sporting a brand new logo, BSNL also introduced low latency 5G connectivity for mining operations in partnership with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), leveraging Made-in-India equipment and its technological expertise. In all, 7 new services of the telco were launched by Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Meanwhile, sources said that the telecom corporation is shifting to a higher gear to grab market share, with a game plan that includes the commercial launch of 4G services in the coming months. The state-owned telco is also giving shape to asset monetisation plans, with an innovative multi-pronged approach that may include identifying land for 'data warehousing' and using the last leg as

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Tuesday launched a slew of new offerings and initiatives - a lineup that ranges from spam blockers to automated SIM kiosks and direct-to-device services. BSNL also introduced low latency 5G connectivity for mining operations in partnership with CDAC, leveraging Made in India equipment and BSNL's technological expertise. The new services - 7 in all - were launched by Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. BSNL's spam-blocking solutions automatically filter out phishing attempts and malicious SMS and aim to create a safer communication environment for the telco's users. Automated SIM kiosks allow users to purchase, upgrade, port or replace SIMs on a 24X7 basis leveraging UPI or QR-enabled payments with seamless KYC integration and multi-lingual access. India's first direct-to-device connectivity solution converges satellite and terrestrial mobile networks to deliver "reliable connectivity", a release said adding the technology is

Satellite communications company Viasat, Inc has claimed to have demonstrated direct-to-device satellite connectivity in India for the first time in collaboration with state-owned telco BSNL. The direct-to-device connectivity allows commonly-used devices like mobile phones, smart watches, or cars; industrial machinery and transport operators to connect seamlessly to both terrestrial and satellite coverage without the need for dedicated hardware to connect to satellites. "In the trial, Viasat demonstrated two-way messaging and SoS messaging using a commercial Android smartphone enabled for non-terrestrial network (NTN) connectivity. The messages were sent roughly 36,000 km to one of Viasat's geostationary L-band satellites. The outcome proves satellite services to cell phone connectivity is technically feasible for Indian consumers and businesses using Viasat's satellite network," Viasat said in a statement. The company said working alongside partner BSNL, Viasat engineers successful

State-run telecom firm BSNL will complete the rollout of indigenously developed 4G technology through 1 lakh base stations by May next year and thereafter switch to 5G network by June 2025, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Monday. While speaking at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, Scindia said that India followed the world in 4G, marched with the world in 5G and will lead the world in 6G technology. The minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very clear that the government company is not going to use anyone else's equipment. "We now have a core and a radio access network that's fully functional. We have got a plan of 1 lakh sites by April-May of next year. We've rolled out 38,300 sites as of yesterday. We are going to roll out our own 4G network, which is going to switch to 5G by June of 2025. We will be the sixth country in the world to be able to do that," Scindia said. BSNL is using 4G technology developed by a consortium of state-run C-DO

A parliamentary committee on Monday expressed its displeasure at the quality of service and falling subscriber base of the government-owned BSNL, with some MPs citing the example of poor service they receive on their own mobiles to make a point, sources said. In their briefing to the Estimates Committee headed by BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal, officials assured the panel of improved service in the next six months, with nearly one lakh mobile towers set to be equipped with 4G service from the existing about 24,000 towers. The BSNL, sources said citing the statement of officials representing the company, has relied on the concept of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" by resorting to indigenous technology. "We were told that the results will be visible in six months," an MP said. Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited's CMD were among the senior officials who attended the meeting which focussed on the organisation's performance, especially on its 4G and 5G services. The sources s

Major telecom service providers in India Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel appear to be prioritising 4G expansion over 5G

Analysts believe market share gains by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel will continue

State-owned telecom company was the only one in industry not to raise tariff

The impact of mobile phone service tariff hike was evident in July with Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea reporting loss of customer base, which resulted in an overall decline in telecom subscribers in the country. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea increased their mobile service plan rates in the range of 10-27 per cent in the first week of July. Airtel and Vodafone Idea have more than doubled their entry-level mobile rates in the last 2-3 years to Rs 199 that comes with 28 days validity. State-run BSNL was the only player that added new subscribers and led the market in terms of new net customer addition, according to a monthly subscribers report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Friday. According to the report, BSNL added over 2.94 million mobile subscribers in July. Bharti Airtel lost 1.69 million mobile subscribers which was highest among its peers. Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio lost 1.41 million and 758 thousands mobile subscribers

Telecom companies have traditionally been hesitant to share sensitive data because it could affect their business customers financially

20,000 towers being put up and Rs 45,000 crore committed for the purpose, he says