NEW DELHI: State-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has said that it won’t increase tariffs in the near future even though all its private peers have raised tariffs by up to 25%.
“We can clearly say we are not going to increase our tariffs in the near future. Today, BSNL’s prime interest is to see that its consumers are happy and to win their confidence. We don’t see any need for tariff hikes now,” said Robert Ravi, Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL.
The statement holds significance as all private telecom operators, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, collectively raised their mobile plan tariffs by up to 25%. Following this tariff hike, telcos lost subscribers substantially, with many users switching to BSNL. Notably, BSNL increased its subscriber base for the first time in recent years.
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Bharti Airtel lost 1.69 million subscribers, Vodafone Idea 1.4 million and Jio lost 758,463 subscribers. In contrast, BSNL added an impressive 2.94 million new subscribers in July 2024, making it the only telecom operator to do so.
The telecom company on Tuesday unveiled its new logo.
“BSNL aims to be at the forefront of technological innovation. BSNL will establish 1,00,000 4G sites by mid-2025 and has plans to upgrade in the future. Our hope is that BSNL will always be at the forefront of tech innovation,” said Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Communications.
The company also announced the launch of fiber-based intranet TV service, which offers over 500 live channels and Pay TV through its FTTH network.