BSNL in very bad state; Once earned huge profit; Today a deficit of 90 thousand crores
By Lokmat English Desk | Published: July 28, 2022 04:25 PM2022-07-28T16:25:00+5:302022-07-28T16:25:00+5:30
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Even today, where other telecom operators' networks are not available, BSNL's signal is available. This is because BSNL's coverage is very high compared to other telecom companies. But what exactly happened in the last few years, which made BSNL lag behind other operators
BSNL stands for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, a government-owned telecommunication company. This company, which has reached the ventilator, has not reached such a state in a day. BSNL, which was launched on October 1, 2000, was once a monopoly in the telecom sector but today the state of affairs is very bad.
The Cabinet on Wednesday gave the green signal to the merger of BSNL and BBNL (Bharat Broadband Network Limited). Also, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has announced a relief package of Rs 1,64,156 crore for BSNL. Our existence today through the relief package.
BSNL i.e. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited was started on 1st October 2000. Those who have fond memories of 2000 will also remember the golden age of BSNL. Back then, unlike today, every person did not have a phone in their home.
One had to stand in queue for days to get BSNL SIM card. We used to struggle to get a SIM card, but we were charged Rs 1 per minute for calling. Gradually private companies started entering this sector and the bad days of BSNL began. Earn profit on profit once.
From 2009-10, BSNL started making losses. This was the first year that BSNL suffered a loss. Private companies like Reliance and Airtel had entered the market. Now the times had also changed, the feature phones had started to be replaced by smartphones.
Not one or two but many private companies came into the market with more than one scheme and FRC. In those days, customers used to get new SIMs cheaper than recharges. In such a situation, BSNL started falling behind its competitors. Starting from the financial year 2009-10.
The company has not seen a profit since 2009 till date. In the financial year 2019-20, the loss of the company had reached 15,500 crores. After this, it seemed that the company was going to close down. Now the government has started efforts to make this company profitable again. 4 to the company in 2021
This situation of the public sector telecom company has happened due to many reasons. Red tape and slow decisions played a major role in this. Before 2021, the highest expenditure of the company was on employees.
The telecom industry was earlier dominated by plans with rate cutters and low calling charges. Now comes 4G data and OTT bundles. While other companies are rolling out 5G, BSNL, which is yet to roll out even 4G services, is lagging behind in the race every day. This is also the fault of the company's management.
While other telcos are in the race for 5G spectrum, BSNL is yet to offer 4G services. The 4G service rollout was supposed to happen by the end of this year, but a recent report suggests that the decision has been postponed.
