BSNL Added More Than 88,000 Mobile Subscribers to Its Network

NEW DELHI: In an interesting development in the country's telecom circuit, subscribers have piled up at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), with a major chunk migrating due to tariff hikes by rivals Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea. From July and October 2024, more than 5.5 million consumers changed their numbers to the BSNL network calling this a big change for the state-owned telecom company

A Breakdown of the Numbers

This growth began in July when BSNL has managed to get 1.5 million new port-ins. Further strengthening its user base, BSNL topped in August with 2.1 million users ported to their network followed by 1.1 million in September and a further 0.7milion in October. This is in sharp contrast to the June 2024 performance of BSNL before the rival tariff hikes. There were just 63,709 port-ins that month but a massive 0.4 million users ported out of BSNL as well.But that trend was reversed by competitors' price rises of up to 15%.

Boost in New SIM Card Sales

At the same time, number of subscribers exiting BSNL nosed over. The outflow reduced to just 0.31 million in July, before dipping further in the subsequent months, indicating a change of preference for BSNL among cost-conscious customers. Besides port-ins, new SIM card sale for BSNL also increased drastically. June 202428SalesThrough June 2024: 790,000

Chairman's Statement

During the same time, 4.9 million visitors entered in July, and similarly strong numbers in subsequent months.
The rise in port-ins and new SIM card sales is a double positive for BSNL since it has come at the back of its aggressive pricing strategy and addition of additional services to attract customers.

Also, in this advancing trend, the BSNL chairman has reassured the consumers that there will be no hike in tariffs from the side of the company during some future time.

That likely helps reinforce its value positioning so common in a market where otherwise competitors are jacking up prices across the board.

The Bigger Picture

This revival of BSNL has come at a very crucial time in the Indian telecom industry. Even as LIBERTY PRICES HAVE been top PRICE for a WHILE BACK PRIVATE PLAYERPics in when GST private companies- the government enjoy competitive, competitive defenses across services. It is state-owned charges.. toned STAR customers. Chronic losses have plagued state-run BSNL, however this time it seems that the operator has managed to find a new formula for gaining subscribers which is not without precedent as they did once penetrate slowly but successfully. This increase could have broader market dynamics as well, possibly causing competitors to "rethink their pricing strategies." BSNL now needs to keep on providing good service and use its expanded user base as ideal testing ground.

Conclusion

It also showed a sea change in consumer sentiment when over 5.5 million users migrated to BSNL in the four months since Jio made its announcement. As the BSNL betting on a billed-to-improve-India vision, with competitive pricing, and focusing more on affordability to lure new customers from bottom of the pyramid in an expanding telecom market.