BSNL employee union seeks nod to use Vodafone Idea network for 4G launch

BSNL

State-run telco BSNL's employee union has urged the government to utilise Vodafone Idea’s network to offer 4G  services in the country to compete with its private peers.

In a February 13 letter to telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Employee Union (BSNLEU) General Secretary P Abhimanyu said that the service provider's customers are porting out “massively” because it lacks the high-speed 4G data service.

“We request that the Government of India, by utilising its status as the largest shareholder in Vi, may kindly ensure that BSNL is allowed to immediately provide 4G service to its customers by utilising the 4G network of Vi,” Abhimanyu said in the letter.

This will only be a temporary measure till BSNL's 4G network is commissioned by TCS, he said, adding that this timely intervention will go a long way to stopping the massive exodus of BSNL's customers and ensuring the early revival of BSNL.

The Government of India is Vodafone Idea Limited's (Vi) largest shareholder, with a 33.1 percent stake, after the accrued interest towards the AGR arrears of Vi was converted into equity in February 2023. The UK's Vodafone PIc and India's Aditya Birla Group jointly own 50.4 percent of Vi.

Cash-strapped Vodafone Idea is yet to launch its 5G service in the country. On January 30, the telco said it will need 6-7 months to roll out the 5G services after securing funding, for which discussions with investors are underway.

BSNL had an 8.08 percent share in the mobile subscriber market as of October 31, 2023, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). In 22 consecutive months as of October end, BSNL lost 21.4 million subscribers, taking its user base down to 92.87 million.

Purwar had earlier informed the unions and associations that BSNL would launch its pan-India 4G service in October 2024.

The employee union secretary, however, revealed that Purwar, in a meeting with the unions and associations at Ahmedabad a week ago, was informed that BSNL's 4G service would be launch in December 2024.

“The shifting in the date of BSNL's 4G launching is due to the fact that the delivery and installation of 4G equipment to BSNL, by the TCS, is getting inordinately delayed. We learn that the 4G equipment of the TCS have not even completed the field trials till today. Our genuine apprehension is that, the commissioning of BSNL's 4G network by TCS may get even more delayed,” Abhimanyu said in the letter.

On January 16, Purwar told Moneycontrol that the telco could stop subscriber loss after June 2024 with the help of its commercial 4G service in the country. “We have started deploying 4G sites in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh West...4G launch will happen once BSNL has 20,000 BTS (base transceiver stations) running across telecom circles."

The top two telecom operators have started poaching BSNL’s customers with the help of their nationwide 5G services, the employee union executive said. “In this backdrop, the delay in BSNL's 4G launching is seriously affecting the Company's financial revival, as envisaged under the Revival Packages offered by the Government of India.”

BSNL’s net loss rose to Rs 1,482 crore in the July-September quarter from Rs 1,470 crore in April-June. Its revenue from operations fell 5.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 4,071 crore during the quarter, as per BSNL’s standalone financial statement.

The Indian government expects the company to turn net profitable by 2026-27.