Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has achieved a milestone of 60,000 FTTH (Fiber-to-the-Home) customers in Kolkata. While the number isn't that big, note that BSNL also provides broadband services via copper cable. Thus, the total fixed broadband customers for the telco should be much higher. The announcement of the milestone was done on X by the state-run telco's (Kolkata arm) social media handle.
BSNL started its Bharat Fibre service (FTTH) on October 1, 2020, with four broadband plans. Now, there are many more available, some of which also bundle OTT (over-the-top) benefits. Plans start from Rs 249 and range up to Rs 4799 per month. Users can also decide to go for the longer-term validity plans and choose from plans that come with up to 24 months of validity.
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BSNL Bharat Fibre has very competitive offerings, but its subscriber addition pace has been slower than JioFiber and Airtel Xstream AirFiber. BSNL now stood at the third position in terms of market share (according to TRAI data for March 31, 2024) in the wireline segment. The state-run telco got merged with Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) in 2023. This gave a boost to BSNL as its fiber assets ownership skyrocketed due to the extensive fiber network that BBNL laid over the last decade.
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BSNL serves almost the entire country with its broadband network. Despite the availability, the private telcos are getting more preference from the customers due to better marketing and brand image that the private companies have been able to build. The achievement of 60,000 customers in Kolkata is a decent achievement, but the journey is longer and the numbers have to grow rapidly for BSNL to improve revenue margins. Not only the private telcos but in Kolkata, local ISPs (internet service providers) such as Alliance Broadband are also giving competition to BSNL.
