BSNL Broadband: BSNL was the leader in the broadband and wireline segments. But the state-owned telecom company is going to lose that spot this time. Because Reliance Jio and Airtel are going to capture this market. According to experts, weak investment and poor service quality are the main reasons for BSNL’s share decline, as well as attractive plans of private companies in a competitive market.
Concerned about the declining market share, BSNL CMD PK Purwar says that in a meeting with circle heads last month, he was asked to find out the reasons behind the growing disconnection in the fiber to the home (FTDH) segment. BSNL has 3.54 million subscribers in the FTTH segment at the end of February. Jio and Airtel have 8.02 million and 5.98 million subscribers respectively. BSNL lost the top spot to Reliance Jio in November 2021. Two years after the launch of JioFiber, the Mumbai-based telecom company set such a precedent.
Jio had only 0.8 million wired broadband subscribers in December 2019. BSNL has 8.39 million subscribers and Airtel has 2.42 million subscribers in that space. As of February 2023, Reliance Jio is now the market leader. Airtel is also struggling to compete in the competitive market. BSNL has to fight to maintain its market share in that space.
On the other hand, BSNL had 7.06 million subscribers at the end of February in the wireline segment, where internet service is provided along with a landline connection. Jio and Airtel gained 8.8 million and 7 million subscribers respectively in the same month. Analysts expect Airtel to overtake BSNL as the second largest in the wireline segment in a couple of months. If that happens, BSNL will definitely lag behind in the wireline segment as well.
After a meeting between the BSNL CMD and the circle head, it said, “High disconnection rate in FTTH is of serious concern and concern for the circle where the disconnection rate is more than 30%”.
