Even though BSNL has been losing landline customers in the Mysore Telecom District spread across the revenue districts of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, the State-owned telecom company appears to be holding its own by adding new broadband and mobile phone customers amidst aggressive marketing by the private players.
Though around 10,000 subscribers have surrendered their landline connections over the past four years, Mysore Telecom District, which not only has close to 3.6 lakh BSNL mobile subscribers, also provides broadband to around 28,000 customers, reckoned to be the highest by any service provider.
“Even though landlines are being surrendered, we are the number one when it comes to broadband services. The number of our mobile phone customers are also growing,” said Principal General Manager of Mysore Telecom District T.V. Venkatram.
The Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has not hit BSNL’s customer base in the district, he claimed. For, customers migrate from one service provider to another mostly on quality of coverage. “If BSNL’s signals are weak in some areas, they are strong in other areas, where the signals of other players are weak. It has not affected us or any player for that matter significantly”, he added.
He said there is a constant demand for BSNL’s broadband in the district and the company is providing wherever it can. Unlike most private players, BSNL is in a better position to provide broadband because of its wide network.
Regarding quality of service, Mr. Venkatram said most of the broadband connections are provided through the regular copper wires used for landline connections. Though there are about 1,000 broadband connections provided through Optical Fibre Cables (OFC), which ensures superior quality service, Mr. Venkatram said he is unable to meet the demand due to the centralised nature of procuring equipment. “I can provide only as much equipment is made available to me,” he said.
BSNL officials also point to the hurdles they face while securing permission for laying underground cables. “Our applications for digging the road to lay new cables are pending before the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) authorities. Even though we ensure that the dug up road is filled and asphalted after laying of the cable, the civic authorities are reluctant to grant permission”, an official said.
In view of the problems related to laying fibre optic cables, many private players are giving the bandwidth hungry broadband customers high-speed wireless options in the form of wingles, dongles and wireless routers with attractive pricing. “There is a lot of churning going on with private players luring the customers into their fold,” said a representative of a private telecom company.
Claiming that BSNL enjoys the trust of the people, Divisional Engineer of Mysore Telecom District, Udayagiri, Muralidhar S. said many customers, who shift to other private service providers, return to the BSNL fold after a few months.
