BSNL has strengthened its 4G network across the country.
New Delhi: In a major decision taken by India’s major telecom operators including Jio, Airtel, and Vi in July this year, the charges were raised on their services. Subsequently, many subscribers switched from these operators to the state-owned telecom company BSNL as it was offering cheap recharge plans.
However, in the recent days, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea have seen fewer customers switching to BSNL, according to a report from IIFL Securities. The report indicates that while many customers had been leaving these companies for BSNL, this trend has started to slow down due to some issues with BSNL’s network quality. In fact, many customers are even returning to Jio and Airtel.
However, retailers believe that despite this, some customers will choose BSNL when their current service plan runs out. This is especially true for those who signed up for longer plans just before prices went up. The customers moving to BSNL mainly come from lower-income groups and small villages.
Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea experienced significant losses in subscribers for the third consecutive month in September while BSNL continued to gain new customers due to the raising of tariff in July.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for September showed that Jio’s subscriber count dropped to about 463.78 million, down from 471.74 million in August. Similarly, Airtel saw its numbers going down to around 383.48 million from 384.91 million, and Vodafone Idea saw the subscriber count falling down to about 212.45 million from 214 million.
BSNL offers a plan for Rs 199 that provides 2GB of data per day for 28 days, which is significantly cheaper compared to similar plans from Jio and Airtel, making it an attractive option for many customers, reports IIFL.
Both Jio and Airtel have successfully completed their 5G networks in all parts of the country earlier this year while Vodafone Idea (Vi) plans to start offering its 5G services very soon whereas BSNL has strengthened its 4G network across the country and is eyeing to roll out its 5G services by next year.
BSNL has installed over 50,000 4G sites since the roll out of its 4G services in September 2022.
In a statement, BSNL said the work on its 5G network is advancing at a rapid pace and trial phases are nearly complete.