BSNL is Recovering Financially, Preparing to Launch 5G Service Next Year

The number of subscribers of government telecom company Bharat Santar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has increased in the last few months. Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that the financial recovery of the company is going on. BSNL plans to launch 5G service in the middle of next year.

Scindia said that the functioning of BSNL is getting stronger. It is very important for a country like India to have three-four telecom companies. He said, “BSNL’s revenue has increased by 12 percent in the last three-four years. The company’s expenditure has decreased by two percent during this period. The company has been positive in terms of EBITDA for the last three years. The operating profit of BSNL has increased to about Rs 2,300. It has become crores of rupees.” The company plans to install one lakh towers by June next year. Scindia said, “We have built our 4G core through government company C-DOT and Radio Access Network (RAN) through Tata Group’s Tejas. TCS is the system integrator for this. It is a completely integrated Bharat solution. We have built around 62,000 Towers have been installed. India is the fifth country in the world to have its own 4G hardware and stack.”

With the installation of one lakh towers by the middle of next year, BSNL plans to shift some of these towers to 5G technology. Last week, BSNL had presented a new challenge for private telecom companies. The company has made available a plan with 1,300 GB data per month for Rs 333.

However, the company’s new tariff plan will not be available in Delhi and Mumbai. In BSNL’s new ‘Winter Bonanza’ offer, subscribers will have to pay Rs 1,999 for six months of Bharat Fiber broadband service. This plan includes 1,300 GB of data each month at speeds up to 25 Mbps. Once this data limit is reached, subscribers will get internet access at a reduced speed of 4 Mbps. In this plan, apart from data, unlimited calls can also be made using the landline. BSNL has also launched a separate plan of Rs 599 for mobile users. It will provide 3 GB high-speed data every day for 84 days. Apart from this, unlimited calls and 100 text messages can also be made per day.