Government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) reported on Friday a profit of Rs 262 crore in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, making its first profit since 2007, aided by aggressive network expansion, cost optimisation, and growth in all business segments. BSNL is expecting that its revenue growth will exceed 20% by the end of the financial year.
Recently, the public sector telco had reported a net loss of Rs 1,569.22 crore in the December quarter of fiscal year 2024.
“This milestone reflects the company’s focus on innovation, aggressive network expansion, cost optimisation, and customer-centric service improvements,” BSNL said in an official statement.
BSNL’s mobility services revenue grew by 15% year-on-year, while fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and leased line services revenue grow up by 18% and 14% year-on-year, respectively, according to the official statement.
Following this, the company said that during the quarter it focused on accelerating its fourth-generation or 4G network roll-out and upgrading its optic fiber infrastructure. As a result of its cost optimisation efforts, the company faced a significant reduction in finance cost and overall expenditure, resulting in a decline in losses by over Rs 1,800 crore as compared to the last year.
BSNL also mentioned that the company is focusing on enhancing services, preparing for fifth-generation (5G) network, and undertaking digital transformation measures.
“Today is an important day in the journey of the telecom sector in India. The Prime Minister has envisioned that the telecom sector will be the carriage way for the digital future of India, and towards that goal and that mission, all of our telecom service providers are working earnestly to provide a carriageway for 140 crore Indians across the lengths and breadth of our country,” union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said.
“Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, our government-owned telco, has in the third quarter of FY 24-25, for the first time in 17 years, posted a profit on a quarterly basis. The last time that BSNL posted a quarterly profit was in the year 2007. In BSNL in the earnings announced today, has posted a quarterly profit of close to Rs 262 crores,” Scindia added.
“We are pleased with our financial performance this quarter, which reflects our focus on innovation, customer satisfaction, and aggressive network expansion. With these efforts, we expect revenue growth to improve further, exceeding 20% by the end of the financial year,” said Robert J Ravi, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), BSNL, in a statement.
“Additionally, BSNL has successfully reduced its finance cost and overall expenditure, leading to a decline in losses by over Rs 1,800 crore compared to last year,” Ravi said.
Previously Ravi told that the telco is fast-tracking the nationwide rollout of 4G, and plans to introduce 5G in selected locations after the full-scale development of 4G services.
“These developments will enhance network coverage, boost digital inclusion, and enable advanced solutions like IoT, AI-driven automation, and smart agriculture. BSNL’s Smart Village Solutions will integrate IoT-based monitoring, e-governance platforms, and digital banking to create self-sustainable rural ecosystems,” he said during the interview.
Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-led consortium that includes the state-owned Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) is currently deploying 1 lakh sites for BSNL’s commercial 4G foray.
The company is consistently working on both 4G and 5G networks simultaneously, to grow their revenue along with customers interest for the company.
Recently it is reported that the Cabinet has approved an additional funding support of Rs 6,000 crore for BSNL for its 4G expansion, which will be utilised to fulfill a shortfall in planned capital expenditure by the telco and its Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) subsidiary.
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Revival Packages, And BSNL’s Subscribers Base
The government has infused around Rs 3.22 Lakh crore in BSNL and MTNL as part of three revival packages since 2019, including for the rollout of 4G services. As per the government, for these packages, BSNL-MTNL started earning operating profits from fiscal 2020-21.
Presently BSNL and private sector telco Vodafone Idea (Vi) are the only carriers without a 5G network. Their rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel completed 5G deployments last year, and already commercial 5G-driven fixed wireless access (FWA) service to their customers.
To recall, last year in early July, Jio, Airtel, and Vi had raised headline mobile tariffs by 11-25%, which caused the companies to lose subscribers for three months subsequently, but at that time BSNL was the only gainer till October.
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for November, Jio added 1.21 million net subscribers while Vodafone Idea lost 1.50 million followed by Airtel, which lost 1.13 million subscribers. While BSNL, which has been adding users over the past four months after the tariff hikes by private telecos last July, lost 0.33 million users.
At the end of November, the wireless subscriber base of Reliance Jio stood at 461.23 million followed by Bharti Airtel at 384.27 million and Vodafone Idea at 208.97 million. While BSNL’s user base stood at 92.05 million.
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