Every Indian consumer today wants a great mobile networking experience. Rising tariffs have also raised consumer expectations from the telecom operators in the country. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state-owned telecom operator, is currently working to roll out 4G network. Its competitors – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio have already prepared for the 5G launch and are just waiting to get spectrum allocation.
BSNL will be the only telco with homegrown 4G network in the country. That would be a serious advantage for the company. To recover from its horrible position, BSNL needs to offer a consistent network experience to consumers with 4G. By the end of 2023, BSNL’s 4G networks should have reached most parts of India.
What Should BSNL do to Grow Fast?
If BSNL can add new subscribers consistently on the 4G promise and retain them, its financials will start getting better. BSNL should not be worried about ARPU initially. The telco must be aggressive with its strategies for adding consumers, and one way to do that would be by offering the lowest tariffs, which it already does.
Then, BSNL will have to use its homegrown solutions as a differentiator between its 4G and the 4G that other telcos offer to attract patriots to its network. BSNL can also win over customers by offering a great customer support experience. For most consumers with private telcos, interaction with the customer care team of the company is a very painful experience. If BSNL can solve this issue, it will be a big win for the telco.
BSNL must expand 4G networks as fast as possible without worrying too much about 5G. The work on indigenous 5G equipment can be done by C-DoT (Centre for Development of Telematics) and other Indian enterprises in the background. BSNL’s initial focus should be to offer better coverage to the consumers than what they get with the private telcos.
