CELLULAR SERVICES: No Hands-down for BSNL

The long-awaited BSNL’s pan-India cellular project got a headstart with the
launch of its services by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Lucknow. In
terms of reach, BSNL will exceed Bharti as it plans to cover all district
headquarters, state highways and national highways. At present, Cellular
Operators Association of India (COAI) claims to provide coverage in 1,481 cities
and towns through 53 networks whereas BSNL plans to provide cellular services in
around 800 cities by December-end on its own. That’s not an easy job
considering the rollout of services in 60—70 days. In Phase I , the company
plans to cover 850 cities and in phase II 171 cities will be covered. Although
Bharti has a pan-India coverage, it is limited to 15 cellular circles whereas
BSNL will have its footprint in all the circles except J&K, North East, and
Assam. Now, with the lifting of the ban by the Ministry of Communications, BSNL
will be in a position to provide cellular services even in these circles in due
course of time. BSNL also has the advantage of one-number roaming across the
country because of its presence in almost all the circles. It also has the
advantage of having the entire network on 900 MHz frequency whereas both Bharti
and Hutch has a mix of 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz frequencies.

On the tariff front, BSNL’s tariff looks very attractive in comparison to
bigger players like Bharti, Idea, and Hutch. The company has branded postpaid as
Cell One. There are just two plans–of monthly rentals Rs 225 and Rs 325. BSNL
subscribers have the advantage of not being charged for roaming and calling line
identification services. The subscribers will also have an additional advantage
of 15-second pulse whereas the industry average is 30 seconds. In the Rs 325
plan, outgoing STD/ISD calls using BSNL’s NLD network will be free and one has
to pay only cellular airtime. The company is also not planning to charge for
incoming STD/ISD calls. BSNL’s cellular subscribers also have the added
advantage of free incoming calls from around 34 million fixed line subscribers
whereas in the case of private operators one has to pay a PSTN charge of Rs 1.20
per call.

On the prepaid front, the company is offering services under the brand name
Excel. Though the net call value is more or less the same, BSNL subscribers will
have significant advantage in terms of both outgoing and incoming calls (within
BSNL network) both during peak as well as off-peak hours. The company offers nil
charges for all incoming calls during off-peak hours. BSNL subscribers will also
have an advantage of free SMSs.

The coverage and tariffs are excellent but the marketing of services is still
way behind private operators. Service providers start advertising campaign in a
big way just after the launch of service but one hasn’t seen any such thing in
the circles where services have been launched.

In spite of having finalized the advertising agency, BSNL has not rolled out
its advertising campaign on communicating to people about cellular services in
all the operational circles at the earliest. The company will need to be very
aggressive on the marketing front if it wants to make a mark in cellular
services.

Quality of service is still a gray area that will be tested once people start
using the service on highways and in different state circles. But BSNL has to be
prompt in QoS-related issues once it receives the feedback from the customer. A
laid-back approach won’t work. The network team has to proactively work on
dark spots in the respective coverage area. The company has to make significant
strides in customer care as this is one thing that will separate winners from
losers.

Pravin Prashant