After the comments made by the telecoms minister Ashwini Vaishnaw about the size of a new player coming to the telecoms sector, Indians should really gain more confidence in the future of the state-run telecoms operator – BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited). The private telcos have dominated the Indian telecom market for years and BSNL is struggling as it lacks PAN-India 4G coverage. Well, this could change pretty soon. The government has announced an aid package worth Rs 1.64 crore to BSNL. This is something we’ve already talked about, and if you want to know more about the help pack, you can click/tap here.
BSNL is a unique case for the Indian market. After what happened to loss-making Air India, many expected the government to stop wasting taxpayers’ hard-earned money and also privatize BSNL. Instead, the government has gone ahead and announced an aid package. Well, BSNL doesn’t make money just expanding its business. For example, the government is stepping in to help BSNL launch 4G, followed by 5G, and to expand its business.
4G and 5G from BSNL could be a good thing for India
4G from BSNL could even be a good thing for the Indian telecom market. Although it will cost the Indian citizens a lot of tax dollars, there will be benefits as well. BSNL is the only telecom operator that would go to a non-viable market/place and provide services. The state-run telco also has a presence in many places in India where it makes no profit but only to provide basic connectivity services to people living there. As against this, BSNL has received funding from the government for viability gap. It is part of the reception package.
With this help from the government BSNL can fund its capex for 4G. The faster BSNL can roll out 4G, the faster it can roll out with 5G. Because BSNL has been at the bottom of the market for so many years, it is very suffocating. If BSNL were a privately owned telco, it would have gone out of business by now. But thanks to government help, BSNL continues to provide services. There are many USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund) projects that BSNL is a part of, and the telco is going to take on more such projects. Ultimately, it is a fruitful business for the whole country and its economy.
At this point, the future of BSNL looks bright enough if it can launch homegrown 4G followed by 5G networks. It will all depend on the kind of services BSNL’s domestic 4G stack can provide. If not good enough, it will be a huge blow to the business of the company as a lot of time has already passed and the private telcos have started making their strides towards 5G.
