"BSNL Witnessed Customer Movement and 4G Expansion: Minister Chauhan's Update"

 Chauhan, the Minister of State for Communications, revealed that in the quarter of June 2023, approximately 16.4 lakh customers decided to leave the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) network, a state-run telecom operator. However, during the same period, there were around 2.77 lakh customers who chose to port into BSNL's network.

This trend continued in the previous period from April 2022 to March 2023, with roughly 65.8 lakh customers porting out of BSNL while 16.85 lakh customers moved in. In total, around 1.37 crore new customers joined BSNL during the period of April 2022 to March 2023. Notably, in the June 2023 quarter alone, 31.46 lakh new customers signed up with the telecom PSU.

Chauhan highlighted that BSNL is currently offering 4G services in 26 Circles across India on a limited scale. As part of the government's Atmanirbhar initiative, BSNL has already placed Purchase orders for one-lakh 4G sites to expand its 4G services throughout the country within the next 18 to 24 months.

On July 15, BSNL took a significant step by launching its long-awaited 4G services in Amritsar, Punjab, as part of a beta phase. To gather customer feedback on the quality of its fourth-generation network, the telecom PSU also plans to distribute prepaid SIMs.

In May, BSNL placed an advance purchase order (APO) of over Rs 15,000 crore with TCS and ITI for 1 lakh 4G sites, with ITI being responsible for deploying 20% of the sites.

Looking ahead, BSNL is optimistic about a 20% increase in its revenue with the widespread availability of its 4G services across the country.