BSNL is Going Heavy on the Airport Partnerships in India

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bsnl is going heavy on the airport

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state-run Indian telecom operator, recently partnered with the GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport. Along with this, the state-run telco has also partnered with Adani Group owned Navi Mumbai airport for offering free Wi-Fi there. The company looks to have found a new niche avenue to operate business in, and it definitely sounds promising. BSNL signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL).

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The state-run telecom operator will implement a range of emerging and convergent solutions, including FTTH-based voice and data services for GMR and airport based units. Then there will be more things like P2P and MPLS connectivity on OPEX model, wherein BSNL will utilise the existing GMR infrastructure and seamless migration of existing services.

BSNL’s partnership with the Adani Group’s Navi Mumbai airport, and this GMR airport in Vishakhapatnam can make a huge difference in the long run. The company has been trying to identify new areas to make money, and this will help in boosting enterprise revenues. Along with this, the telco’s consumer business front is also improving healthily, with more active users every quarter that goes by.

BSNL needs more customers, however, in the short-term to make a meaningful difference to the revenues and the margins. The telco, while never directly hikes the tariffs, reduces the benefits of the plans which is helping in improving ARPU (average revenue per user) marginally. The next round of tariff hikes, which are expected to take place in some part of 2026, will again help BSNL in adding new customers. BSNL has the potential to become the secondary SIM for Indian consumers, but for that, the telco has to invest a lot more into expanding its networks and modernising the infrastructure.