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Time of India
7 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Captive 5G, commercial 4G & cost efficiencies to drive BSNL's future revenues: Robert Ravi
NEW DELHI: State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited ( BSNL ) expects widespread availability of its commercial fourth-generation (4G) services and cost-efficiencies to drive top-line growth in the next few quarters, a top official said. 'We are undertaking several initiatives to improve cost efficiencies and reduce overheads. Additionally, our next-generation 4G services will see expanded coverage in the coming months. We are also exploring emerging business opportunities such as captive 5G networks for enterprises and leveraging advanced technologies for automation and digital transformation," BSNL CMD Robert J Ravi told ETTelecom. Further, Ravi said that these efforts together are expected to "significantly drive future revenues and strengthen BSNL's position" in the evolving telecom landscape. The public sector telecom operator clocked a net profit of ₹280 crore in Q4FY25, rising sequentially from ₹262 crore in Q3FY25. It cut down loss by 58% to ₹ 2,247-crore in FY 2025, from ₹ 5,370-crore in FY 2024. Commercial 4G network-based data services contributed nearly 6% of the telco's overall revenue in Q4FY25. Recently, the public sector telco, in partnership with a Mumbai-based startup Tidal Wave , deployed a captive 5G network for a few Coal India mines using the 2500 MHz spectrum band. The top official also said that the state-owned telecom carrier is also "looking at bundling affordable data plans together with smartphone offering", and is in talks with homegrown original device makers (ODM), as a part of its strategy. The telco is largely rolling out next generation networks on the 700 MHz frequency range with both top mobile chipset providers - MediaTek and Qualcomm - supporting the spectrum band. READ MORE | Homegrown Tidal Wave, BSNL deploy private 5G network in Coal India, eyes public sector business The telco is rolling out 4G services in partnership with Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services-led consortium that includes Tejas Networks and state-owned Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT). Tata Sons holds a majority of stake in Bengaluru-based Tejas Networks, which is providing radio access network (RAN) to the telco's ambitious 4G and 5G rollout initiative. Last week, BSNL awarded a Rs 2, 903.22-crore follow-on order to N Ganapathy Subramaniam-headed TCS for planning, engineering, supply, installation, testing, commissioning and annual maintenance of 18,685 4G network sites. BSNL, however, is expecting to increase its revenue by at least 10% once it deploys the next generation network nationwide. BSNL CMD Robert J Ravi talks on telco's 5G expansion, use cases
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
BSNL posts net profit of ₹280 crore in Q4FY25, reduces loss
NEW DELHI: State-controlled Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited ( BSNL ) on Tuesday posted a profit after tax (PAT) of ₹280 crore in Q4FY25, up from ₹262 crore in Q3FY25, boosted by its nationwide roll-out of commercial fourth-generation (4G) services and 5G Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) initiatives. BSNL had posted a net loss of ₹849 crore in the fiscal fourth quarter that ended March 31, 2024. For the entire FY25, BSNL's loss reduced by 58% to ₹2,247 crore, compared to a loss of ₹5,370 crore in FY24. 'The outlook for the coming year will continue to show strong top-line revenue growth alongside a steady decline in operating costs—both critical to sustained profitability,' the telecom PSU said in its earnings statement. However, it cautioned that in the near term, higher depreciation and amortisation arising from recent spectrum acquisitions and heavy capital expenditure (capex) arising from further 4G and 5G network investments, and upgradation of core infrastructure and aging backhaul fibres, will weigh on quarterly results despite 'solid fundamentals'. 'Although profit after tax may be subdued next fiscal year because of the sizeable capex and spectrum infusion, these investments are expected to spur accelerated growth and profitability thereafter,' BSNL said, adding that the ongoing asset monetisation efforts will generate further funds that can be reinvested to further strengthen the company's capital program. BSNL almost doubled its asset monetisation in FY25, as per the statement. Its revenue from asset monetisation stood at ₹1,120 crore, an increase of 77% year-on-year. BSNL's operating income increased by 7.8% year-on-year to ₹20,841 crore in FY25, while the total income surged by 10% year-on-year to ₹23,427 crore. The growth from all core revenue segments increased when compared to the last fiscal year. The public sector telecom carrier's mobility revenue in FY25 was up by 6% year-on-year to ₹7,499 crore, fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) revenue grew by 10% year-on-year to ₹2,923 crore, and leased lines (including enterprise) revenue grew by 3.5% year-on-year to ₹4,096 crore. BSNL's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) grew from ₹2,164 crore in FY24 to ₹5,396 crore in FY25. The telco's 27 telecom circles turned Ebitda-positive in FY25, compared to 17 circles in FY24 '27 circles turned EBITDA-positive in FY25 (only 17 circles last year – FY24). 10 circles turned PAT-positive in FY-25 (only 3 circles last year-FY-24),' BSNL said. BSNL added assets worth ₹26,022 crore in FY25, comprising ₹15,324 crore worth of equipment/towers, and others, and ₹10,698 crore of spectrum, the larges in the company's history, mainline led by 4G rollout and fibre footprint expansion. 'The sharp turnaround is testimony to professional management, government support and relentless focus on both the top line and the bottom line. BSNL is not just being revived, but redefined,' said Robert J Ravi, CMD, BSNL. 'With disciplined cost control and accelerated 4G/5G deployment, we are confident of sustaining this growth trajectory and delivering affordable, high-quality connectivity to every Indian. We will not be chasing profits as our end goal,' Ravi added.
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
BSNL employees set to protest against slow-moving 4G, 5G rollout, BharatNet progress
NEW DELHI: Employees of the state-run telecom carrier Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited ( BSNL ) have planned a nearly two-month protest against the delay in rollout of 4G and fifth-generation ( 5G ) services, lackluster fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and enterprise business (EB) performance, and persistent challenges related to the execution of the Centre's ambitious BharatNet project. The employees said these factors are contributing to a huge subscriber port-out from BSNL to rival telcos' networks, resulting in a significant revenue loss for the telecom PSU. 'Despite full support of the government, the project (4G/5G rollout) is being consistently marred with problems, mostly due to the inept management and the associated vendors. The delay in the smooth rollout of full-fledged 4G/5G services and consistent daily problems in the network are leading to huge churn of subscribers, which is further leading to a great dip in revenue,' the Bharatiya Door Sanchar Manch said in a letter to Robert J Ravi , CMD, BSNL. ETTelecom has reviewed a copy of the letter dated May 1, 2025. Bharatiya Door Sanchar Manch comprises BSNL unions and associations affiliated to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), including the All India Graduate Engineers & Telecom Officers Association (AIGETOA), BTEU, BDPS, AIBSNLOBCEWA, STEWA, FNTOBEA, and BTU. The BMS represents more than 3 crores workers nationwide. 'Even the basic issues in the FTTH segment are also not being looked upon, which is making BSNL lag behind its competitors in this era of fierce competition in FTTH/EB segments,' the employees said in the letter. 'All these things are leading to huge churn of customers and loss of revenue, which is making BSNL subject to losses despite best efforts by the employees.' Citing the latest data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the employees said that the advantageous position of BSNL following the July 2024 tariff hike has been diluted due to a significant churn in the telecom PSU's subscriber base, owing to network issues. The sector regulator's industry data collated for February showed that BSNL lost 0.56 million subscribers to close the month with a subscriber base of 91.01 million. By contrast, its private sector rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel gained 1.76 million and 1.59 million subscribers, respectively, to end the month with 467.58 million and 388.55 million subscribers, mainly due to relatively superior 4G and 5G coverage pan-India. Vi lost 20,720 subscribers in February, limiting its base to 205.90 million. 'The work related to crucial projects like BharatNet, CDR, Pan India MAAN (Multi Access Aggregation Network), IP MPLS MAAN, etc, is also not moving in a proper way due to indecisions on the part of management at various levels,' the Bharatiya Door Sanchar Manch said. It said the result of BSNL employees' hard work has reflected in the results of FY24-25, and in the 'record-breaking' revenue collection in March 2025. 'It's worth mentioning that BSNL has delivered a net profitable quarter after almost 17 years in the Q3 results of FY 2024-25,' it added. The employees have also sought redressal of their long-standing HR issues, including pay structure, promotional avenues, and perks & allowances. 'It is very clear that management deliberately wants to keep the executives & non-executives in a state of unrest and allow the organisation in a turbulent condition, perhaps to hide failures on other fronts,' it said. The employees will commence their protests from May 16 with a signature campaign, culminating in a three-day dharna (sit-in protest) at all BSNL corporate offices between May 15 and May 17.
