Lok Sabha Question No. 2226 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-02
Subject: Improving Services of MTNL and BSNL
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav, Sanghamitra Maurya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2226 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND  AUGUST, 2023

## IMPROVING SERVICES OF MTNL AND BSNL

## †2226. SHRI SANJAY JADHAV: DR. SANGHMITRA MAURYA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any necessary steps to improve the services of MTNL and BSNL in the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the number of subscribers of MTNL and BSNL services in the urban and rural areas;
- (c) the  appropriate  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  provide  proper  signal  network,  data  of MTNL and BSNL to its subscribers in the rural areas;
- (d) whether the number of MTNL and BSNL subscribers has declined in the country, if so, the details thereof along with the reasons for such decline;
- (e) the details of the scheme of the Government to improve their quality of service;
- (f) the steps taken by the Government to increase the number of MTNL and BSNL subscribers;
- (g) the details of financial assistance provided to improve the quality of services of MTNL and BSNL during the last five years and the current year; and
- (h) whether the Government proposes to improve the quality services of MTNL and BSNL, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) to (h) To improve the quality of service and to increase subscriber  base of BSNL in urban and rural areas, Government has provided various packages during the last five years, as detailed below:

- i. The Union Cabinet on 23.10.2019 approved the revival package of Rs 70,000 Cr (approx.) for  'Revival  of  BSNL  and  MTNL'  by  reducing  employee  costs  through  VRS,  debt restructuring by raising of sovereign guarantee bonds, monetisation of assets etc. With this, both BSNL and MTNL have become operationally profitable since 2020-21 and remained so since then.

- ii. The Union Cabinet on 27.07.2022 approved revival package for BSNL amounting to Rs. 1.64 lakhs crores. The revival measures focus on infusing fresh capital for upgrading BSNL services, allocating spectrum, de-stressing its balance sheet, augmenting its fibre network by merging Bharat Broadband Nigam Limited (BBNL) with BSNL.
- iii. Further, the Union Cabinet on 07.06.2023 approved the allotment of 4G/5G spectrum to BSNL with the total outlay of Rs. 89,047 Cr through equity infusion.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regularly monitors the performance of Telecom service providers against the benchmark for various Quality of Service (QoS) parameters laid down by way of QoS regulations issued from time to time. As per Performance Monitoring Report (PMR) of TRAI for the Quarterly ending March 2023, the mobile network services being provided by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) meets almost all the Quality-of-Service (QoS) parameters in all its licensed service areas.

Details of BSNL and MTNL subscribers in Urban and Rural areas as on 30.06.2023 are:

| Service Provider   | Number of subscribers as on 30.06.2023   | Number of subscribers as on 30.06.2023   | Number of subscribers as on 30.06.2023   |
|--------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
|                    | Rural                                    | Urban                                    | Total                                    |
| MTNL               | -                                        | 42,46,193                                | 42,46,193                                |
| BSNL               | 3,31,97,932                              | 7,28,61,454                              | 10,60,59,386                             |

The number of subscribers of BSNL and MTNL for the last 03 years are as follows:

|            | BSNL         | BSNL      | MTNL      | MTNL      |
|------------|--------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| As on      | Wireless     | Wireline  | Wireless  | Wireline  |
| 31.03.2021 | 11,85,29,647 | 66,49,439 | 32,96,021 | 29,03,589 |
| 31.03.2022 | 11,36,88,415 | 75,09,030 | 32,48,651 | 26,93,638 |
| 31.03.2023 | 10,35,80,534 | 71,05,823 | 23,50,170 | 23,12,553 |

The reasons for decline of subscribers are due to lack of 4G services on full scale and stiff competition in  the Telecom Sector. In line with Atmanirbhar initiative of the Government, BSNL has issued Purchase orders for one-lakh 4G sites to rollout 4G services all over India within 18 to 24 months.

*******************