Lok Sabha Question No. 1567 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-27
Subject: Profit/Loss Registered by BSNL and MTNL
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: S.R. Parthiban

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1567 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH   NOVEMBER, 2019

## PROFIT/LOSS REGISTERED BY BSNL AND MTNL

## 1567. SHRI PARTHIBAN S.R.:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  loss  or  profit  registered  by  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL)  and  Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) during each of the last three years and their liabilities along with the  service  infrastructure  available  with  them  in  comparison  to their  private  counterpart  for  mobile services;
- (b) whether  BSNL  and  MTNL  have  failed  to  attract  customers  as  compared  to  their  private counterparts despite having a large infrastructure, particularly in the urban areas and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the reasons for call drops and low connectivity by these Government companies?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) The profit/(loss) of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for the last three years are as under:

(in Rs. crore)

| Year    | Profit/(loss) of BSNL   | Profit/(loss) ofMTNL   |
|---------|-------------------------|------------------------|
| 2016-17 | (4793)                  | (2971)                 |
| 2017-18 | (7993)                  | (2971)                 |
| 2018-19 | (14904)                 | (3398)                 |

Number  of  mobile  Base  Transceiver  Stations  (BTSs)  of  BSNL,  MTNL  and  other  major private Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) is as under:

| Number of BTSs (as on 25.06.2019)   | Number of BTSs (as on 25.06.2019)   | Number of BTSs (as on 25.06.2019)   | Number of BTSs (as on 25.06.2019)   | Number of BTSs (as on 25.06.2019)   |
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| BSNL                                | MTNL#                               | Reliance Jio                        | Vodafone-Idea                       | Airtel                              |
| 146864                              | 4279                                | 791771                              | 597342                              | 564744                              |

(Source: TARANG Sanchar Portal)

#MTNL provide its service in Delhi and Mumbai only

(b) Despite stiff competition, BSNL has managed to increase its subscriber base.  However, the customer  base  of  MTNL  has  decreased  marginally.  Details  of  mobile  subscribers  of  BSNL  and MTNL   is as under:

| Name of PSU   | No. of mobile subscribers as on (in crore)   | No. of mobile subscribers as on (in crore)   | No. of mobile subscribers as on (in crore)   |
|---------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
|               | 31.03.2017                                   | 31.03.2018                                   | 31.03.2019                                   |
| BSNL          | 10.14                                        | 11.19                                        | 11.57                                        |
| MTNL          | 0.36                                         | 0.36                                         | 0.35                                         |

(c) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) monitors the performance of telecom service providers including BSNL and MTNL against the benchmark for various Quality of Service (QoS) parameters  laid  down  by  TRAI  by  way  of  QoS  regulations  issued  from  time  to  time,  through Quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMRs).

As  per  PMR  for  mobile  services  issued  by  TRAI  for  the  quarter  ending  September  2019, MTNL is meeting all the benchmarks for all the parameters.  BSNL is meeting all the benchmarks for all the parameters in all of its Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) except for the parameter for call drops in West Bengal service area only.

BSNL has reported that in West Bengal QoS of call drops is affected due to difficult terrain like hilly and forest area in Sikkim, Darjeeling, North Bengal area and isolated islands in Sundarban (South 24 Parganas).  Call handover becomes problematic due to shadow zones in hilly roads. There are frequent optical fibre cable cuts in major routes due to Highway expansion and augmentation of railway routes in North Bengal area.

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