BSNL’s once-flourishing landline business has bottomed out
| Photo Credit: SOMASHEKARA GRN
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) reported a quarterly net profit in FY25Q3, its first in over 17 years. While this is a significant moment for the beleaguered State-owned telecom company, there is still a long road to recovery.
BSNL has achieved a profit through a combination of cost-cutting measures and a slight increase in revenue. It earned a revenue of ₹19,330 crore from operations in 2024, close to half of what it earned in 2006 (Chart 1).
Chart 1 | The chart shows BSL’s revenue from operations from 2006 to 2024 (in & crore)
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The company’s expenses fell drastically in 2021 (Chart 2), following a huge reduction in the employee count using early voluntary retirement schemes (Chart 3).
Chart 2 | The chart shows BSNL’s total expenses from 2006 to 2024 (in & crore)
Chart 3 | The chart shows the number of employees at BSNL between 2014 and 2024
From 2021, there was also a sharp reduction in finance costs, such as the interest paid on loans, and depreciation and amortisation expenses too (Chart 4).
Chart 4 | The chart shows the break-up of BSNL’s expenses from 2006 to 2024
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While cost-cutting measures have helped, the issues on the income front persist. Understandably, BSNL’s once-flourishing landline business has bottomed out. However, its cellular business too has flattened out since the introduction of Reliance’s Jio in 2016, as the average revenue earned per user declined rapidly (Chart 5A).
Chart 5A | The chart shows BSNL’s revenue from sales of wired and wireless services from 2006 to 2024 (in & crore)
While its traditional broadband services have fizzled out, there is a slow but consistent uptick in its fibre-to-the-home internet business (Chart 5B).
Chart 5B | The chart shows BSNL’s revenue from the sales of broadband services and Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) (in z crore)
A considerable amount of money is also made from leased lines — high-speed network for businesses — and by leasing its infrastructure (Chart 5C).
Chart 5C | The chart shows BSNL’s revenue from leased lines and leased infrastructure (in & crore)
BSNL’s market share in the wireless business — where private players make most of their money — continues to decline. From over 20% in 2005, it halved to 10% by 2022 and went below 10% in the last two years (Chart 6).
Chart 6 | The chart shows the Indian wireless subscriber market share (%) between 2005 and 2024
Also read: Data | How BSNL bled: The story behind public telecom giant’s fall in 6 charts
Published – March 06, 2025 07:00 am IST