In Pursuit of Growth

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Like last year, there is a fall in the revenue of the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam. BSNL recorded a revenue of Rs 35,296 crore in the last fiscal, down from Rs 40,135 crore in FY 2006-07, a decline of 12.1%.

The company has also tied up with DigiBee, an Indian mobile handset manufacturer, to offer cheap handsets through various bundling offers.

Last year, Kuldeep Goyal took over as CMD of BSNL from AK Sinha, who retired. Goyal was working as director, Planning and New Services before being promoted as CMD.

As of now the company has 3.8 lakh employees. Sometime back, the company was riddled with manpower issues. Though, BSNL is trying to rectify this position by introducing zonal monitoring, in which the zone's executive director would be in charge of the complete zone. Right now there are 26 CGMs, who directly report to the corporate office.

BSNL also revised roaming charges under the pre-paid and post-paid services. The roaming charges for all incoming calls were reduced to Re 1 per minute from Rs 1.75 for all incoming calls; to Re 1 from Rs 1.40 for local outgoing; and to Rs 1.50 from Rs 2.40 for outgoing STD.

BSNL 1

The company is looking at new business streams to increase revenue and reduce losses. BSNL is toying with the idea of entering into managed network services and enterprise business, which will add value to mobile as well as landline. Apart from this the company is also looking at adding IPTV and VoIP services in its portfolio. BSNL would also be investing Rs 15,000 crore for the next three years in a bid to return to its profitable position.

Like other service providers, BSNL is also planning to focus on the rural segment in the coming years. It aims to connect 4.5 mn people. As of now, the company has 38,000 exchanges in the country and 23,500 are already connected. BSNL aims to have all its exchanges broadband-enabled. The company also wants to provide wireless broadband through WiMax in around 1,000 blocks in the country. BSNL has also requested Trai to exempt the license fee for its WiMax services as it plans to provide these services largely in the rural India.

The company is in the process of massive expansion especially in the GSM mobile telephony segment as it has floated tenders for adding 90 mn lines in the next five years, over and above the recently ordered 22.5 mn lines.

BSNL leads the broadband segment, as far as subscribers are concerned. Currently, the company has 2 mn out of the 3.9 mn subscribers in the country, and plans to increase the number to 3 mn on wireline in the current year. It aims to reach the 10 mn figure by 2010.

We plan to invest Rs 15,000 cr each year for the next 3 years

chairman & MD, BSNL

Kuldeep Goyal

Address: Bharat Sanchar Bhavan Harish Chandra Mathur Lane Janpath, New Delhi 110001, India
Tel: 011-23734073,
Fax: 91-11-23765296
Website: www.bsnl.in

Highlights

Plans to invest Rs 15,000 every year for the next three years
Focussed on broadband
Considering new business streams like managed network services and enterprise business
Plans to increase marketshare in the broadband segment

What were your achievements in the last financial year?
There is a slight decrease in revenue, the main cause of which was that our mobile expansion plans were hampered because of mobile tender and court cases. However, we do hope that we would be able to record an increase in the coming year.

We plan to invest around Rs 15,000 crore each year for the next three years to increase our network expansion. Right now, our reserves will take care of at least a year or two of investment plans. If need be we will look at other options.

You are a prominent player in the broadband segment. What is your growth strategy in the domain?
In broadband, we have more than 50% marketshare. Out of the 3.9 mn connections in the country, we have more than 2 mn. We plan to increase this to 3 mn broadband connections on wireline in the current year, and further by 2010 we intend to extend our reach by 10 mn connections. This would mean 3 mn for this year and the next, and then 2 mn for the subsequent year.

We also aim to provide additional connections through WiMax and 3G, so that we can contribute toward the government's target of 20 mn broadband by 2010. For the rural expansion of broadband we have ordered 23,500 exchanges in rural areas, to be provided with broadband expansion.

What is your strategy for the rural segment?
Rollout in the rural area is going to be our focus in the current year. Mobile rollouts are also likely to speed up. In the broadband space as well, we will continue to focus on rural India. We want to provide an umbrella curve through our WLL network in rural areas so if there is a requirement for connection in any particular area, we should be able to provide the same-either through our wireline connectivity or through our wireless network in rural area. And in the GSM space also we will try to cover rural areas as a priority. We have a good network already, we just need to roll out our plans in a much faster manner.

Are you looking at new business streams to increase revenue?
We are eagerly looking at new business streams like managed network services and enterprise business that would add as VAS to mobile, as well as landline. Apart from this we are also looking at adding IPTV and VoIP services in our portfolio.

In enterprise services, we plan to offer a complete bundle of services like wire line, wireless, Internet, and broadband. It is a very big market and we plan to focus on it. We are also trying to add many VAS services for consumers.

What are your plans on the 3G front?
We have already ordered equipment for 3G. We are ready, and once the spectrum is available we would be able to roll out our plans quickly. Initially we would be starting with big cities.