BSNL has not launched 4G so far. It was one of the reasonings for availing the Rs 69,000 cr bailout package that the government gave expeditiously in 2019. Now it wants more on account of various network heads and debt servicing obligations. The government is finalizing a Rs 1.18 lakh package for the state telcos. Rs 30K cr as sovereign guarantee for raising money through issuance of long-term bond for repaying existing loans of Rs 22K cr of BSNL and Rs 8K cr of MTNL is envisaged. Rs 48K cr towards 5+5 MHz liberalised spectrum in 900 MHz band that is expiring in February 2022, Rs 20K cr for past dues of AGR & excess spectrum, and Rs 20K cr for funding capex of 1 lakh 4G BTS, and backbone network upgradation are other elements of this package under finalization. BSNL also pressed its employees union to lobby for this package.

Meanwhile BSNL’s 4G launch is locked in the PoC stage, owing to its mismanagement. The launch of 4G services is the key to boost revenue. When the government gave the state telcos the Rs 69K cr bailout, BSNL in its business plan had claimed that the combined mobile market share of both telcos would be 14 per cent with an yearly revenue of Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 crore from FY 2022-23 with monthly ARPU of Rs 60 to 65. Capex and opex outlays were demanded and given. However, the 4G network and the service is nowhere on the horizon.

In FY21, BSNL’s total income stood at Rs 18,595 crore, down 2 per cent year-on-year. It narrowed losses due to staff reduction. MTNL also narrowed losses because of the same factor. VRS has been BSNL’s only boast and it has used it effectively to gloss over non-performance. Financial performance of both the telcos reflected in AGR shows a poor record. Both the telcos AGR is down at a time when industry AGR is up by 21.53 per cent. Also, during this phase BSNL lost 97.72 lakh subscribers from its already shrunk pool. No Subscriber growth is possible without 4G. In the absence of visionary decision making, the state telcos are simply wasting government support.

BSNL is at least two generations behind in technology, scale and ambition. In an eight-part cover story we bring you the complete story of chronic delays and bailouts.