Telecom Ministry asks BSNL operation heads of 6 states to address gaps in services

New Delhi: The Union Minister of State (MoS) for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani on Thursday said he reviewed government-owned BSNL's services in six states and asked the respective heads to resolve operational gaps at the earliest.

The Telecom Ministry has been strictly monitoring the performance of BSNL as the government is set to roll-out fresh capex of Rs 47,000 crore in the public sector telco.

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"Reviewed @BSNLCorporate circles of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana & Himachal Pradesh today. Underscored the urgency of resolving persistent operational gaps — especially in power backup and fibre maintenance — and encouraged field units to craft region-specific outreach models that reflect ground realities and user expectations," Pemmasani said.

BSNL has spent Rs 25,000 crore in the last year for installing 1 lakh towers for 4G mobile services.

"We have another close to Rs 47,000 crore capex plan in place for BSNL. Meanwhile, BSNL has done its highest-ever capex of Rs 25,000 crore during last year," the DoT said, quoting Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

IT firm TCS and a C-DoT-led consortium had bagged the majority of the Rs 25,000 crore project for the supply of telecom gear to BSNL. Scindia has asked BSNL to add customers and grow its mobile service business by 50 per cent over the next year.

During a review meeting with BSNL's all circle and business unit heads last month, Scindia had asked each unit to increase enterprise business by 25-30 per cent and fixed line business by a minimum of 15-20 per cent.

The minister had asked BSNL to increase its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) -- a key metric for a telecom company's growth -- by improving customer satisfaction and adding more subscribers.

BSNL's APRU varies from circle to circle, ranging from around Rs 40 to over Rs 175.

Reliance Jio posted an ARPU of Rs 208, while Airtel posted an ARPU of Rs 250 for the June quarter.

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