When Mobile Number Portability was announced three years ago, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) witnessed a considerable inflow of customers from private players, due to the known reliability and reach of the public sector company. But, recent data on its number portability performance tell a story of customer disillusionment, with an outflow of users.
In October last year, the BSNL continued the growth trend from previous months, gaining a total of 648 customers. But in November, the balance shifted with a net loss of one customer. By December, it reached worrying proportions with a net loss of 1,408 customers across Kerala.
Long-time users of the network cite a fall in service levels in recent times, from frequent call drops to Internet connectivity issues. The employees point out that the issue is related to the shortage of equipment which has prevented the company from upgrading its service to meet the increasing customer base. This is a direct result of the successive cancellation of equipment purchase tenders by the Union government since 2007.
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“Despite its late entry into the mobile market, the BSNL managed to be one of the top service providers till a few years ago. But post-2007, we have not been able to match up to our past performance as our existing systems were insufficient to meet the demands. A company which has been making profits of around Rs.10,000 crore till 2005, posted a loss of Rs.6,933.25 crore this year, due to this delay in upgrading. We lost out on the 3G market too,” says one of the employees.
Though the Kerala circle continues to be one of the three circles still making annual profits, material shortage has been an issue, they say. According to the employees, in short supply are Micro-SIMs used in smart phones and even cable pairs for landline connections.
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But according to DGM (S&M), Kerala Circle, V.C. Chandramoorthy, there has been no material shortage.