Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) can change the way Indians consume 4G. Both the telcos are on the back foot when it comes to offering 4G services right now. While Vi already has an established 4G network across the country, BSNL is still not close to rolling out 4G networks PAN-India. At present, most of the Indians living in metro cities or tier-2 cities that are heavily crowded get congested networks of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio that deprive them of experiencing what true 4G feels like. It will still be the same case if Indians rely on the 4G services of Jio and Airtel primarily. However, if BSNL and Vodafone Idea were to step in and offer excellent 4G services and take some subscribers away from Airtel and Jio, the networks of the top two Indian operators will become a little less congested. This will allow users to get seamless 4G network speeds from their service providers.
BSNL and Vi Will Increase 4G Quality Overall
Further, once BSNL and Vodafone Idea adds a ton of 4G subscribers, the overall telecom market will also evolve into something better. This is because of the increased competition in the market. At present, only Jio and Airtel compete primarily for 4G subscribers. But with four operators on the scene, the offers from the telcos would become more aggressive, and the customers will get even better quality services. In a bid to be ahead of the other operators, each operator would try to bring some innovative offers or business ideas to the table, which will forever change the way Indians consume 4G.
Vodafone Idea’s Problems
It isn’t that Vi doesn’t have live 4G networks as in the case of BSNL. The telco has an excellent network, but it has been losing subscribers in a jiffy. That is because of multiple reasons, and one of them is the poor network coverage. Ookla recently announced that Vi had the fastest 4G network in India during the January-March 2021 quarter. Vi is further enhancing its network capacity by refarming spectrum for 4G, and in the near term, if the company manages to raise some capital, it should be all set to add subscribers very soon. Vi’s tariff hikes can be delayed if the company can raise capital, and that would help it in attracting new subscribers and also reduce the churn rate.
BSNL’s 4G Dilemma
BSNL has time and again been interrupted by both the government and the non-government bodies when it has tried to roll out 4G networks in India. The telco is in a precarious situation, and it needs to move out of it as early as possible if it wants to survive in the industry. BSNL has been trying to go with the hybrid 4G rollout in India. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had already given its permission to the telco to go ahead of the same. However, there has been no word by BSNL recently on what it plans to do with its 4G rollout in the country. One thing is for sure, both BSNL and Vi adding 4G subscribers would allow users to consume services from less congested networks, which will improve customer satisfaction, and the overall industry will be able to benefit from that as well.
