Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd - 'The Giant Is Getting Up'

The hope that private service providers are going to give a tough time to state monopolies seems to be still a distant dream . Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the telecom giant under the great guidance of its CMD, Dr DPS Seth, did exceptionally well during 2000-01, with a turnover of Rs 23,034 crore. In the V&D 100 rankings, BSNL stood first that too in its very first year after the corporatization of the two arms of DoT—Department of Telecom Services and Department of Telecom Operations. Threat of the private service providers is not just making BSNL sit up, but its also getting aggressive. The company's major achievements during this period include deployment of 59.2 lakh lines against the target of 57.9 lakh line, deployment of 54,000 rkm on the OFC front and 583 lckm on the JFTC front. In microwave BSNL deployed 16,000 rkm against a target of 10,000 rkm. It also put up 34,000 VPT, one area where the private service providers have failed. During the current fiscal, with a plan to spend Rs 1,500 crore in network expansion and upgradation, BSNL aims at maximizing the revenue from the subscribers, by providing intelligent networking services in both basic and cellular as well as improving customer support services. If everything goes well, it may mark its presence in the Fortune 500 Club.

The telecom giant registered a turnover of Rs 23,034 crore and a growth of around 13 percent.

A telecom giant called Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) came into being last fiscal with the corporatization of the two arms of DoT, the Department of Telecom Services and the Department of Telecom Operations. The company has an authorized capital base of a whopping Rs 10,000 crore with a paid-up capital of Rs 5,000 crore. The company inherited 3,62,000 employees, a gross capital asset of Rs 75,000 crore (as on 31 March 2000), market value of 2,50,000 crore, and a net worth of Rs 68,000 crore.

BSNL performed very well in the first fiscal by netting a turnover of Rs 23,000 crore and registering a growth of around 13 percent. The performance is excellent considering the fact that tariff re-balancing for long distance was done twice in the same fiscal. Long-distance calls were reduced by 13 percent and tariff was further revised. Under this revision, a rate for a distance of 200 km within the same circle was brought down substantially.

BSNL did exceptionally well on the deployment of DELs in the country. The company deployed 59.2 lakh lines against a target of 57.9 lakh lines. On the OFC and JFTC front, the company deployed 54,000 rkm and 583 lckm, respectively. On the microwave front, the company deployed 16,000 rkm against a target of 10,000 rkm. While most of the private service providers were unable to achieve their target on the VPT front, BSNL deployed 34,000 VPTs in every nook and corner of India and this year plans are on for deploying 143,000 VPTs in the country. Faults per 100 telephones per month came down to 14.6.

Reliance’s plans for setting up a parallel telecom infrastructure has made BSNL very aggressive. It has announced an expansion plan of Rs 16,500 crore for upgrading its network . It also has cellular services plans in almost 300 cities. It is aiming to add around 68.3 lakh more lines. To provide more bandwidth to the user, the company is augmenting its long distance network by connecting more metros and large cities with high capacity DWDM systems. It is testing VoIP services in metro cites. It is also planning to increase the efficiency and bandwidth of network by going for distributed network where OFC is put to maximum use of comparison to PIJF.

The focus next year will be on maximizing the revenue from the subscribers, by providing IN services in both basic and cellular as well as improving customer support services. Changing the attitude of employees in the highly competitive atmosphere is a task well cut-out for BSNL. The litmus test will be the response its cellular service gets from the people, given the lackluster response to MTNL’s services. If everything goes well, the company may well become the second Indian company after Indian Oil to enter the Fortune 500 club.