BSNL Achieves Rs 262 Crore Profit in Q3 FY2024-25, Signalling a Major Turnaround for the State-Owned Telco

BSNL has achieved a net profit of Rs 262 crore for the December quarter, marking its first profitable quarter in nearly 17 years. Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia highlighted this as a pivotal moment for the state-run telecom company, which has been concentrating on expanding its services and subscriber base. The last time BSNL reported a quarterly profit was in 2007.

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BSNL has shown improvement across various sectors, with growth rates between 14-18% in mobility, FTTH, and leased line services. The subscriber count increased to approximately 9 crore in December from 8.4 crore in June. Scindia noted that BSNL's focus on innovation, network expansion, cost optimisation, and customer-centric service enhancements contributed to this success.

Revenue Growth and Cost Management

The third quarter saw a 15% rise in revenue from mobility services, an 18% increase in FTTH revenue, and a 14% boost in leased line services compared to the same period last year. Additionally, BSNL managed to reduce its finance costs and overall expenses, resulting in a reduction of losses by over Rs 1,800 crore compared to the previous year.

BSNL has introduced new offerings like National WiFi Roaming, BiTV for mobile customers, IFTV for FTTH users, and private 5G connectivity for mining to enhance customer experience. Scindia expressed optimism that BSNL will not only increase revenues by the end of the fourth quarter but also keep expenses under control to further reduce losses from last year's figures.

Future Plans and Infrastructure Development

Over the past four years, BSNL's EBITDA has doubled from Rs 1,100 crore to nearly Rs 2,100 crore as of FY23-24. This quarter's return to profitability is crucial as BSNL prepares to offer 4G services nationwide. Out of 100,000 planned towers, around 75,000 have been installed and nearly 60,000 are operational. Scindia hopes all towers will be functional by June this year.

Scindia stated: "We certainly hope that this year will not just see an increase in revenues at the end of fourth quarter for the full financial year, but will also see BSNL keep expenditure and costs under control and significantly reduce losses from the figures of last year."