CNA – India’s Cabinet yesterday approved a INR890.47-billion (USD10.79-billion) revival package for loss-making Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to help the state-owned telecom operator deploy 4G and 5G services in a market dominated by private players.
“With this revival package, BSNL will emerge as a stable telecom service provider focussed on providing connectivity to remotest parts of India,” the Cabinet said in a statement.
The development comes days after BSNL partnered with top software company Tata Consultancy Services to help deploy 4G network across the country at a time when larger rivals were rolling out next-generation 5G network.
Debt-laden BSNL, grappling with poor infrastructure, has been posting losses for the past 12 years. The losses narrowed to INR69.82 billion in the year ended March 2022 from INR74.41 billion a year ago.
The company has also been struggling to win customers in the face of intense price competition from Reliance Industries-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
The telecom market in India was upended by Jio’s launch in 2016, when it offered free calls and cut-price data plans, eroding the profit and revenue of rivals and leading to consolidation.
Shares of state-owned telecom firm Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd surged 14.3 per cent after the news on a revival package for BSNL.
