State-owned BSNL behind private telecom firms in rural, urban markets

The government approved the third revival package of Rs 89,000 crore for BSNL last week. It said that this package will help the state-owned firm to emerge as a stable telecom service provider and it can focus on providing connectivity to the remotest parts of India.

It implied that the company’s services are critical in far-flung rural areas which are not served by private players as they are guided by profit motive. However, data shows that private operators such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea are not only providing services in all rural corners, but their rural market share is also higher than BSNL’s.