BSNL user base stable, no hike in tariff: CGM

CHENNAI: Dismissing allegations that the Public-sector telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is losing its customers, the Chief General Manager of BSNL CV Vinod said that the numbers of BSNL customers are stable now.

“We have almost 70 lakh customers in the state. We witnessed a decline in the past three months. Now it’s stable. BSNL is able to retain its market share,” he told DT Next after holding a review meeting with south zone officials in Chennai.

Instead, BSNL is losing its infrastructures due to digging works taken up by various state departments are a concern, he said. “This creates a huge problem in providing uninterrupted service,” he added.

The CGM cited systemic issues and said the application named ‘Call before you dig’ is seldom used. “Whoever is digging the roads, they need to convey this to the concerned authorities through the app. But mostly no one is utilising this. Numerous digging works destroyed our cables which were laid 30-40 years ago,” Vinod said.

The CGM said that the BSNL will be reopening customer service centres across the state which were shut earlier. He also assured that there won’t be any tariff hike after the launch of 4G and 5G services. “BSNL’s tariff plan will be less than other telecom operators. We will be reopening our customer service centres. Outsourcing firms will do all maintenance work of our towers and other technical infrastructure,” he said.

The BSNL Chief General Manager said that BSNL is ready to share its infrastructure with other telecom operators.