BSNL's Massive Investment: A New Surge in Connectivity

The Indian government announces a Rs 47,000 crore capex plan to boost BSNL's network, building on the Rs 25,000 crore spent last year. Telecom Minister Scindia urges BSNL to expand mobile services by 50% and increase revenue through customer satisfaction, targeting improved ARPU metrics.

The Indian government is gearing up to infuse another Rs 47,000 crore into BSNL's network expansion, according to an announcement by the Department of Telecom on social media platform X, Thursday.

Last year, BSNL invested Rs 25,000 crore to install 100,000 towers for 4G mobile services. This ambitious project's supply of telecom equipment saw contracts granted majorly to IT firm TCS and a C-DoT-led consortium. Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia emphasized the need for BSNL to grow its mobile service business by 50% over the next year.

In a recent review meeting, Scindia instructed BSNL's business unit heads to increase their enterprise business by 25-30% and fixed line business by at least 15-20%. He highlighted the importance of elevating BSNL's Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) by enhancing customer satisfaction and expanding the subscriber base. Comparatively, BSNL's ARPU trails behind private competitors such as Reliance Jio and Airtel.

(With inputs from agencies.)