Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) merger is almost complete now. The employees of BBNL have already been transferred to BSNL. The state-run telecom operator has already taken over the maintenance and operations of BBNL, said a Businessline report. As per the publication, the merger is almost complete now. BSNL has even started using the fiber network laid out by BBNL. BSNL is providing connectivity services in rural areas with the help of BBNL's fiber network and is expected to double its broadband connectivity to 50 lakh subscribers by the end of this year.
The government has decided to merge both the poor-performing companies in the telecom sector. BBNL was set up by the central govt in 2012 with the aim of offering broadband connectivity services in every gram panchayat of the country. Over Rs 42,000 crore has been spent by BBNL, and around 2.5 lakh gram panchayats have been covered with optic fiber.
BSNL will be able to leverage the assets and fiber network resources of BBNL in expanding its services and reach into rural India fast. The state-run telco, as well as BBNL, are expected to benefit from this. The BBNL team has been criticised for its inefficiencies and for bringing poor results to the table.
People are Questioning BBNL's Network Being of any Advantage for BSNL
In FY21, BharatNet drew a profit of only Rs 1.46 crore, which showed the poor utilisation of assets by BBNL. Many industry people believe that BBNL's network laid is not of great quality, and thus BSNL's benefit from the network would be limited. However, the report mentions that BSNL's management is pretty confident about the advantage that BBNL's network will bring to the state-run telco's business. As mentioned above, BSNL has already started utilising the network laid out by BBNL. Only time will tell how profitable this move was from the government.
