The Hindu : BSNL spearheads in cellular services

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 19, 2003

Business

Business

BSNL spearheads in cellular services

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 18. The entry of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) into the cellular arena is the only saving grace for this sector whose growth rate has gone down from the heady two digit figures registered earlier.

Of the 9.32 lakh new subscribers in March, BSNL accounted for over two-thirds despite the fact that it is not present in the two traditional engines of growth — Mumbai and Delhi — where MTNL has struggled to match its sister company's performance in rest of the country.

Despite being an inexplicably late starter, BSNL has started giving sleepless nights to private companies as far as the number game is concerned. Its extensive network in the hinterlands and an age-old grievance redressal machinery in small towns where customers tend to be more discriminating appears to have helped BSNL enroll customers at a scorching pace.

For instance in Tamil Nadu (except Chennai), while the three private cellular companies registered a negative growth rate in March, BSNL's base grew by 50 per cent over the previous month. As a result it is poised to dislodge BPL Cellular from the No. 2 slot having pushed Bharti to a distant third position. In Kerala, subscribers appear to have forgiven BSNL for keeping them without connections for years resulting in the State having the highest waiting list in the country. Here the company has jumped to the No. 2 position from the third slot just a month ago.

Its performance is not confined to one State or region. In Maharashtra it has done a Kerala with a 40 per cent growth in new cellular connections in March. A wide gap has opened between BSNL on one hand and Bharti and BPL on the other but much ground remains to be covered before it is in a position to take on the No. 1 one company Idea.

In Himachal Pradesh where there are three companies, it has left behind Reliance and is now in a position to take on the leader Bharti.

It has displaced Reliance from the top spot in Orissa. Given its baggage of tardy after-service care, it remains to be seen whether BSNL will be able to sustain the momentum.

With BSNL entering small towns, the growth rate in March was the highest in circle C circles and second highest in circle B circles. In metros, where growth was the highest not too long ago, the rate was 3.38 per cent.

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