BSNL achieves Rs 1,500 crore profit at EBITDA level, says Ashwini Vaishnaw: Report

Union telecom and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has achieved a profit of over Rs 1,500 crore at the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) level, according to a report by Times Now.

He said, “BSNL was in a very bad shape a decade ago, almost on the verge of closing, (but it) has revived”, as per the report.

The Ministry of Communications in a statement earlier said that on the back of the two revival packages for BSNL, the telco has started earning operating profits since FY22.

At the end of November 2023, the state-owned telecom operator lost half a million wireless broadband users. The wireless broadband user base of BSNL declined to 20.85 million in November from 21.35 million in October, according to the latest subscribers’ data collated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

By contrast, Reliance Jio commanded the leadership position in wireless broadband space with 455.82 million subscribers followed by Bharti Airtel with 255.07 million and Vodafone Idea at 126.63 million.

BSNL is currently deploying its fourth-generation or 4G services using equipment from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and ITI Limited.

Mumbai-based TCS-led consortium includes public sector firm Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) and Tejas Networks, acquired by Tata Sons.

In August 2023, Tejas won a Rs 7,492 crore ($900 million) deal to supply its latest 4G/5G RAN for BSNL’s pan-India network, spanning 1 lakh sites.

Then in September 2023, Tejas said in a regulatory filing that it received mobilisation advance of Rs 750 crore from TCS towards the supply of RAN equipment for BSNL’s pan-India 4G and 5G network.

Homegrown telecom gear maker Tejas Networks’ Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Whole-Time Director Arnob Roy recently said the company is continuing to ramp up shipments of 4G Radio Access Network (RAN) to BSNL, and has received an additional purchase order of Rs 107 crores for additional sites as part of the telco’s 4G network build-out.

BSNL’s 4G network will be upgradeable to 5G in the future.