BSNL clocks over 20 million 4G users; plans enterprise push with private 5G
Private 5G networks for individual companies are yet to take off in India, but the state-owned telecom giant is an early mover. It created one for Coal India last month and has signed an agreement to do so for Numaligarh Refinery Limited.
With the formal launch of BSNL’s 4G services on India-made technology on Friday, the state-owned telecom operator said its mobile network now serves more than 20 million people across the country.
In addition to expanding its mobile services, the company is also targeting significant business opportunities in deploying private 5G networks for enterprises, its chairman and managing director Robert Ravi said.
“The business potential in captive non-public networks (CNPNs) is huge. We are also exploring opportunities in edge data centers, where we plan to offer managed cloud services for enterprises," Ravi told Mint on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi to announce the launch of more than 97,500 4G towers across India.
A CNPN is a secure, high-speed internet network meant to be used by only one company. An edge data centre is a small data center set up closer to users or businesses to make services faster and more efficient. Managed cloud services means taking on the complete or partial management, optimisation, security, and maintenance of an organisation's cloud resources and infrastructure.
Of the 97,500 towers, more than 92,600 were installed by BSNL on its indigenous 4G stack, which can be upgraded to 5G. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate BSNL’s 4G stack and tower sites on Saturday, alongside other projects.
“India has entered the domain of the big four to produce and manufacture telecom equipment in the world. India is now the fifth country and BSNL the sixth company in the world to produce telecom equipment," communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said at the event. He added that these towers would also cover 26,700 unconnected villages in remote areas, border regions and places affected by left-wing extremism.
Even though BSNL has begun testing 5G services at Chandigarh and Ambala, according to a government release on Friday, the minister said the company would first perfect its 4G services before gradually moving to 5G.
BSNL had 90.36 million mobile subscribers at the end of July, 100,000 fewer than the 90.46 million it had at the end of June, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). However, its subscriber base grew by nearly 1.86 million compared to July 2024, when it had 88.5 million users.
‘Collaboration needed for private 5G’
In the private 5G space, telecom operators such as BSNL work with system integrators, platform or software application providers and device providers. Even as the use of private 5G is yet to pick up in India, BSNL already provides spectrum and network maintenance. It has deployed a 5G private network for Coal India and last month signed an agreement to create one for Numaligarh Refinery Limited.
Asked about the average ticket size of these private-network deals, Ravi said it varied based on the solutions provided. “We’re currently seeing private 5G deals in the range of ₹20-50 crore," said Ankit Dixit, CEO of Tidal Wave Technologies. The homegrown startup has partnered with BSNL to deploy private 5G networks across various Coal India facilities, enabling critical communications, vehicle tracking systems, and fuel management sensors.
Dixit said companies in sectors such as mining, ports, and refineries were increasingly keen on setting up dedicated private 5G networks on their premises to minimise downtime, enhance safety and security, and boost productivity. However, he emphasised the need for closer collaboration with telecom companies to develop cost-based spectrum pricing models aligned with enterprise budgets and accelerate the adoption of private 5G.
Government push
On 24 June, Mint reported that captive 5G networks, which have failed to take despite three years of 5G, may get a leg-up with the government weighing the case for allocating spectrum directly to enterprises, a demand that has previously faced resistance from telecom firms. Enterprises have expressed concern about telecom operators’ high charges for setting up private networks, and about the security risk of giving these contracts to telecom companies.
On 30 June the department of telecom said it was starting a 30-day ‘fresh demand survey’ to assess interest in assigning 5G spectrum directly to enterprises for private networks. However, the survey received a lukewarm response. Officials said one of the reasons for this was the complex application form with harsh eligibility criteria such as a ₹100-crore turnover.
BSNL’s indigenous stack was developed by Tejas Networks and C-DOT, with TCS serving as system integrator. In 2022, as part of a Cabinet revival package, the government had approved 100,000 4G tower sites for BSNL at a cost of ₹19,592 crore. BSNL spent ₹25,000 crore FY25 to install these towers for 4G services. TCS and a C-DoT-led consortium bagged the lion’s share of the ₹25,000-crore project to supply telecom gear to BSNL.
To be sure, the government has planned a ₹47,000 crore capex boost for the telecom company, the telecom department said in a post on X on 13 August. “Next, the company is looking at deploying 20,000 more tower sites for which a ₹6,000 crore capex has already been approved," Ravi said.
Two quarters of profits, but is it sustainable?
The company made a net profit of ₹262 crore in the December quarter and ₹280 crore in the March quarter, marking the first time in 18 years that it reported profits in two straight quarters. However, in the June quarter, BSNL reported a net loss of ₹1,049 crore. It had a 7.7% share of India’s mobile telecom subscribers at the end of July. Since 2019, the government has given three revival packages to BSNL and MTNL worth a combined ₹3.2 trillion.
“Market-share growth will come when this 4G network gains traction across the country, which it already has," Scindia said, adding that the company’s focus is not on market share but on retaining customers, acquiring new ones, and satisfying them.
On the sustainability of profits, Scindia said, “We may not be able to see that run rate of profitability going forward as the company did a capex of ₹25,000 crore in FY25 and there will be a close to ₹2,500 crore non-cash hit to the bottomline due to depreciation." The minister said analysts should look at BSNL’s operating profit and Ebitda rather than net profit going forward.
BSNL added assets worth ₹26,022 crore in 2024-25, as per a government release. During a meeting with BSNL circle heads in July, Scindia asked them to aim for 50% growth in the mobile services business and 25-30% growth in the enterprise segment next year.
BSNL's monthly average revenue per user (Arpu) varies from circle to circle. Scindia said it is ₹40-45 in some circles and ₹175 in others. Reliance Jio posted an Arpu of ₹208 for the June quarter, while Airtel posted ₹250.
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