Below par marketing strategies take a toll on BSNL; losses 2 crore users in FY'15

NEW DELHI: State-run struggling telco BSNL has lost about 2 crore subscribers in the last financial year owing to its below par marketing strategies when compared to its peers, media reports said.

The reports, quoting an official in the Department of Telecom , said that the company lost about 1.78 crore wireless and over 20 lakh wireline subscribers between March 2014 and March 2015.

"The reasons for decline in wireline subscriber base include the general decline in demand for fixed lines telephone on account of shift to mobile services," he said.

The wireless subscriber base of BSNL stood at 7.76 crore with a market share of 7.96% at the end of May.

The wireline base stood at 1.60 crore with a market share of 61.07%.

The company has taken a number of steps to attract customer like unlimited free night calls from landline, free incoming calls on roaming and a host of different special plans, but is lagging behind because of poor marketing.

It invested Rs 4,804.77 crore in network augmentation which will result in addition of 14,421 2G sites and 10,605 3G sites across the country.