Where do “Missed Opportunities and Slow Adaptations” take us?

An early notification in the morning read “BCG to draw the revival map of BSNL”. Well, whenever we hear about BSNL today, all that comes to our mind in Landline and Slow Network.

Will the new project of BCG be able to bring back BSNL in the market?

Where do “Missed Opportunities and Slow Adaptations” take us? BSNL would be a classic example of such a question.

But why did BSNL fail ?

BSNL taught us a very important lesson and I believe that applies to every market sector and to ourselves too : What happens if we do not learn from market changes or we do not adapt fast ?

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was once the pioneer of wireless telecommunications in India. Established in 2000, BSNL emerged as the country's largest provider of landline and broadband services, swiftly entering the wireless telecommunications market.

Despite its early successes, BSNL began losing ground to private competitors in the mid-2000s. The first major loss for BSNL was in FY 2009-10. Several factors contributed to this decline. However, two of the most important ones from a consumer point of view are :

1.       Technological Lag: While private players like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio swiftly adopted new technologies, BSNL lagged. The delay in rolling out 3G and 4G services significantly impacted its competitiveness. Consumers wanting faster data speeds and better connectivity, started shifting towards more technologically advanced providers.

2.       Financial Constraints: Mounting financial losses and a heavy debt burden restricted BSNL's ability to invest in infrastructure and technological upgrades. The financial health of the company deteriorated, leading to a decline in service quality.

Now, the firm has is seeking advice from BCG for which the PSU is ready to pay a hefty sum of Rs. 132 crores.  BCG's recent advisory project is aiming to bring back BSNL in the competitive telecom market through strategic reforms and modernization initiatives, the ones which have been missing for so long.

1.       Technological Upgrade: BCG is facilitating BSNL's transition to 4G and 5G technologies. By upgrading its network infrastructure, BSNL aims to offer high-speed data services comparable to private competitors.

2.       Operational Efficiency: Reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks are crucial components of BCG's strategy. By improving on operational efficiency, service delivery and customer satisfaction are planned to be achieved.

3.       Financial Restructuring: By looking into the financial issue through debt restructuring and exploring new revenue streams, financial stability is being expected. BCG is working on innovative financial models to ensure sustainable growth.

4.       Customer-Centric Approach: Re-constructing the customer services and launching competitive pricing strategies are essential to regaining consumer trust. BCG is helping BSNL develop a customer-centric approach to win back its lost market share.

The partnership with BCG looks like a promising step towards ensuring BSNL to once again be a crucial name in India's telecommunications industry.

Whether it is the NOKIA story or the BSNL story, the take-away has been the same . The market changes every second, and the capability to "Learn and Un-Learn" is of utmost importance. If we do not decide fast and implement faster, there is always another entity doing it for the market, in the market.