Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has received some tough love from the IT and telecom minister of India, Ashwini Vaishnaw. The minister has been very vocal about the changes that the employees of the state-run telco need to make. First of all, Vaishnaw has asked employees to leave their 'Sarkari Attitude' or go back home through early retirement. The words of Vaishnaw weren't empty threats. Much recently, Vaishnaw asked a CGM (Chief General Manager) caught napping during a meeting to leave the room. It is also being said that the CGM has been forced into early retirement through the Voluntary Retirement Scheme.
But the big question is, will it change things? Sure, Vaishnaw made a point through this move. It shows that the Indian government is pretty serious about making things right with BSNL this time. But, removing an employee from the company into early retirement might not be the actual push that the workers need. That said, the CGM, who has been removed from the company, was indeed at fault for sleeping in a meeting with the telecom minister.
BSNL Needs to Launch 4G Soon; There's No Other Way
BSNL is fighting for its life with Rs 1.64 lakh crore revival package that the centre announced recently. This relief package addresses the concerns of the telco around 4G capex, which is a positive sign. However, there are delays every time something significant is about to happen. BSNL needs to launch 4G as soon as possible and snatch some subscribers of the private telcos with the attraction of lower tariffs.
Things need to change for BSNL in order for the telco to become profitable and become self-sustainable. BSNL is working with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to deploy 4G in over 1,00,000 sites across the nation. This needs to happen fast as consumers will soon be looking to move to 5G in India. More and more consumers are purchasing 5G devices in the Indian market, and BSNL also needs to keep its eye on launching 5G NSA as soon as it can.
