"Large coverage is BSNL's USP"

V P Sinha became CMD of India’s largest telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on January 1, 2004. As CMD his priority is to improve decision making and gear up BSNL for competition from the private sector.

BSNL is a behemoth incumbent operator with a slow decision making culture. It is difficult for such an organisation to survive in a competitive atmosphere. How do you plan to change the work culture at BSNL?

I agree that sometimes there are delays in decision making at BSNL. It is very difficult to avoid delays in any government organisation as they are bound by the rules set up by the government. For instance, if BSNL wants to purchase equipment it is required to first issue an NIT (notice inviting tender), then issue tender papers; the vendors then need time for clarifications. After all this, technical bids are invited first and finally financial bids are opened. This whole process is very time consuming and results in inordinate delays. Private organisations do not go through all these processes and therefore their decision making is fast.

However, in the last four months, decision making has become very fast. What we are doing is that we are placing huge orders. For instance, BSNL is currently engaged in the process of procuring GSM equipment of 15 million lines. This will meet our requirement for one and a half years. Similarly, we are procuring huge equipment for the national Internet backbone (NIB).

As far as work culture is concerned, it cannot be changed overnight. However, we are trying to change the work culture at BSNL. We have set up committees and ensure that files are not stopped at any level. Even at the field level, the work culture is changing and our customers are able to make out the difference in the attitude of BSNL employees.

BSNL has a workforce of about 3.5 lakh employees. Don’t you think this is a huge number for any organisation? How do you plan to tackle this problem?

I believe that our large workforce is an asset. BSNL is able to launch various services without any addition of manpower, which is a major problem for many private operators. We are not only able to utilise the existing workforce in the new technology areas but are also able to change their working habits and responsiveness towards customers.

It is a fact that the legacy wireline requires more employees. Our network is expanding very fast. This year we will reach a ratio of between 7.5 and 8 employees for every 1,000 telephone connections. World-wide, the average is between four and five employees per 1,000. In some of the economically developed countries, the average is three employees per 1,000 connections. In another three years, we will meet the world average.

I would like to clarify that we have no plans to offer VRS to our employees. We are not recruiting any new employees at the technician level. We are retraining our exiting employees in new fields such as finance, marketing and other fields.

You are facing competition from private players like Reliance Infocomm & Bharti. How do you plan to compete with them?

We are ready for competition. In fact, the growth in cellular services started when BSNL entered into the field. We provided high quality services at affordable prices. Our cellular services are available on all the highways and has the largest coverage. In view of competition, the employees have changed their work culture. As a result, some of the customers who left us initially have come back to BSNL. In fixed line services BSNL is still the dominant player. Now, we are adding a large number of value added services.

In any developing country, it is easy to get customers until teledensity reaches 30%. In India, teledensity is only 7%. Therefore, I think it is not easy for anyone to displace any of the serious players in the market.

There is a big demand for BSNL’s cellular mobile services but BSNL is not able to meet it. What accounts for the delay in network expansion?

BSNL entered the cellular mobile field as the fourth operator. In most of the circles, our unique selling point is the largest coverage. We have fully covered the state highways, national highways and rail routes. BSNL is able to provide the most affordable cellular services throughout the country. That is why demand for BSNL’s mobile services, i.e., CellOne and Excel (prepaid) exceed the network capacity. However, BSNL has plans to install a network of 20 million lines.

Why is BSNL not involved in a roaming tie up with private cellular operators?

We have a roaming agreement with MTNL. So it is wrong to say that BSNL is not open to tie-ups. Yes, you are right that we have not tied up with private players for roaming. BSNL has the largest cellular network in the country. All private operators are free to lay network. However, they have not done so. Therefore, large coverage becomes our USP. I do not think that this is a losing proposition for BSNL, at present.

You were Sr DDG (Rural) for a very long time. Do you think providing rural telephony can be a good business proposition?

BSNL is the only organisation that is fulfilling the commitment to provide connectivity in the rural areas. Right now because of the tariff structure and costing, rural networking is not a profitable venture. However, efforts are on to convert this sector also into a profitable area for BSNL.

Why was BSNL late in entering broadband services? What are your plans in broadband?

BSNL is the first operator in the country to introduce broadband services in India. We are already providing services in Bangalore and Kolkata on commercial basis. We plan to start broadband services in major cities of the country by March, 2005. We aim to achieve a target of 10 lakh customers by March, 2005 in broadband areas.

How do you plan to increase BSNL’s revenue?

BSNL’s revenue is continuously increasing since its inception. I would like to remind you that we have registered an increase of 10% in the first year, 5% in the second and 12% in third year, which is a very commendable increase in revenue, when tariffs are continuously falling. We are not only increasing the network in all areas including, basic, cellular and data services but also trying to provide value added services, which are mostly content oriented, to boost our revenue.

Private operators say ADC should not be given to BSNL as it is subsidising ILD & STD calls through ADC...

This should be addressed to Trai which has designed ADC in the telecom network. However, I would like to inform you that ADC is not at all connected with the structure of telecom operators. However, it is related to the costing of the network available and is available to all operators.

What are your plans to check this exodus of fixed line subscribers from BSNL?

We at BSNL are not perturbed by losing basic telephone subscribers. When wireless services are introduced in the network and competition has set in, the incumbent invariably loses certain fixed line subscribers. Now, the subscribers who are surrendering fixed line connections, are getting BSNL wireless services. Therefore, there is no dip in BSNL revenue. In financial terminology, you may say that this is the adjustment period of various types of services to have a proper balance between services. However, BSNL is committed, and is trying, to improve the customer interface services required to make customers satisfied and happy.

Do you plan to expand your operations globally?

Yes, BSNL management in its Vision 2004 has decided to expand its services in nearby countries initially. BSNL is planning to associate with companies to provide networks in the Gulf, Asian and African countries wherever possible. However, it is difficult to elaborate more on it at this juncture.

Source: BSNL PORTAL(The Economic Times )