‘We will make our customers stress-free’

By Ibrahim Ahmad & Krishna Mukherjee

After joining the struggling state-run telco BSNL in January this year, Anupam Shrivastava, CMD, BSNL, had written letters to the operators in BRICS nations to get an idea about how are they working on customer experience and found they are trying to make their customers 'stress free' with their latest schemes.

Whether it’s their phone bills or electricity bills, customers are very stressed out these days, often because of exorbitantly high bills. And this triggered the concept of making customers 'stress free', says Shrivastava.

And since then there have been a lot of action, from free landline calls from 9 pm-7 am to free national roaming. BSNL is leaving no stone unturned to offer customer delight and come back on track.

The target of setting up 2,500 Wi-Fi hotspots in 250 cities by the end of this year is also in the same direction. Shrivastava's message is loud and clear that BSNL may be down but it's not out!

Voice&Data caught up with Shrivastava to know more about such schemes and BSNL’s plans for the future.

Voice&Data: What are the key steps you are taking to win back your customers?

Anupam Shrivastava: We started in 2000 and in 2002 our first mobile network was installed and then from 2002 to 2006, our mobile share was rising.

We started with 0% mobile share and in 2006 we had the maximum mobile share in the whole country. We were No.1 but from 2006-2012, we were not in a position to somehow add to the mobile capacity and that was the time the market was rapidly growing.

The market penetration was very less in 2006 and market penetration almost got saturated in 2012 but from 2006, BSNL lost on the market share too, on the customer value because of non-addition of networks. Customer confidence got reduced, our network capacity was not upgraded.

But the good part was that from 2012 onwards, we started taking a host of steps to ensure that we come back on track as part of our revival strategy.

We began rolling out mobile network through phase-7, wherein we invested Rs 4,800 crore which we have recently increased by another Rs 1,000 crore to ensure our mobile network improves and this actually resulted in better quality of services presumably from customers’ point of view.

As a result, call drops got reduced; congestion got reduced after all when that kind of infrastructure is put into place then definitely some improvements are imminent and it is constantly taking place in all other zones.

By improving our mobile network, customers’ confidence was once again coming back but that was still not enough. It was very difficult to bring back customers just by bringing in improved quality of services.

Then we realized unless we have some innovative schemes, customers would not come back. So, we changed our direction a little bit, we changed our focus from voice to data due to the tremendous rise in data consumption with about 70% rise been witnessed year on year basis.

We started moving towards data by strengthening our network for our data capacity and capabilities, so we invested in better Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) in mobile services, we invested in better Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) then we invested in better connectivity of our network of GGSN, core network.

We also invested in broadband where we are putting up a higher SDL capacity, our network has started becoming strategic and sturdy as far as data is concerned.

Then was the time to come to the market and reach out to the customers. So, first part was preparation, second part was reaching out to the consumers and then tell them “here is the network which you can utilize for services” and for that some innovative schemes were required.

Apart from improving our customer interface through our call centers, we thought of coming up with some schemes, the first among them was giving the night call free from 9 pm to 7 am from landline network which reverberated in the market and people thought that landline can still be utilized.

‘Free’ actually gives customers a stress free feeling because he knows between 9-7 it’s free, he can dial in and talk as long as he wants. He does not have to bother when he is supposed to dial, so in other words, he is stress free.

And with this customers have started coming back to BSNL landline network, they are coming to us again and asking for connecting their networks or some are going for new connections.

We have witnessed an almost 30 % rise in customers addition to landline connections in the last one month.

Voice&Data: Do you think free landline scheme will also pull your customers to use your landlines more for broadband?

Anupam Shrivastava: It’s the time when they should not only come just for the sake of free calling but it should be for broadband too, they should experience the reliability, speed offered by our landline broadband. Some people say when it works nobody can beat it but the only problem is if it doesn’t work, and fixing it takes a bit of time.

Keeping that in mind, we are taking steps to make our broadband service a flawless experience. To maintain the speed, some software solutions have been deployed, some hardware solutions have been used. Then there was a shortage of cable so we have inducted that too and we have also motivated our staff to fix the services as fast as possible.

Voice&Data: BSNL has also announced free national roaming recently...

Anupam Shrivastava: Free national roaming is a major initiative by BSNL, which I feel will have a far reaching implications for mobile services in India, second only to giving incoming free on mobiles.

This is again for making our customers ‘stress free’ in today’s world. Our customers would like to pay a fixed-sum and remain stress free. They will be rather apprehensive in an environment where the operator charges are as per the usage.

After joining BSNL, I had written letters to the operators in the BRICS nations and there too they are going for such schemes—free and fix-sum.

Customers are not bothered when they are required to pay a fix amount but if the operator says the bill can go up to Rs 800, Rs 900, Rs 1,500 as per usage, it starts causing the stress so this is what the pulse of the market is customers are very much stressed out.

We want to expand BSNL’s reach and scope also and we found that with such schemes we are on the right direction. Right now, it’s 9-7 am free calls, but maybe we can bring in some innovative schemes for the whole day (24 hours). Ultimately the purpose would be that customers pay a fixed sum and remain completely stress free.

Voice&Data: And what are the plans to woo back enterprise customers ? For a long time BSNL was the only telecom service provider for some business customers.

Anupam Shrivastava: We came up with the core network, the strongest network any operator could have, the MPLS network and the core network were very sturdy and resilient.

Enterprise business means basically data, not so much about voice. And our network used to give huge amount of data capabilities, speed, resilience over the years. When the enterprise business was expanding our business was also expanding but again during that time the investment did not take place as was required and therefore, the data capability of the pipe was a shortcoming.

Even though we used to get more and more customers, data pipes never used to flow with what was guaranteed to them. So, we took steps to strengthen information super highways of the country which means enhance capacity resilient (ECR) core networks. We started expanding our capability - wherever we were having 1GBPS connectivity, we are making it 10 GBPS. We were laying the optical fiber network once again on that network, putting up OTN capability there, adding more number of routers, more number of connectivity points.

Enterprise business will prosper only when we will have pipes to take data freely and in a faster way. With that investment we believe the enterprise customer will slowly come back to BSNL’s fold.

In between we have won contracts from public sector lenders such as SBI, Bank of Baroda, largely for our capability. Enterprise segment will again rise, the landline will also gain ground, giving BSNL a holistic growth.

Voice&Data: Well, so much for infusing confidence among customers, but what exactly are you doing to cope up with internal problems such as strike by employees?

Anupam Shrivastava: If you look at their charter of demands, they are not asking for a salary hike or other facilities. They went on strike for BSNL’s betterment, each of their demands are for survival, revival and betterment of the company.

So now you can see these associations, their direction is affiliated with the direction of the management and they want good for BSNL.

With, our free call services during night there are chances that there would be some reduction in our revenues. Obviously, when you are offering something free, your revenue will come down. So, there’s a need to compensate on that and then we can compensate only when more and more customers join our schemes.

In a nutshell, though I am making my customers stress free but at the same time this is one of the business strategies so that more and more people join our platform and if my business prospers employees will get benefit out of that.

So all these associations and unions joined hands and it’s their decision to go to the streets for the betterment of BSNL. If the company is doing good, the employees will also do good. So you can see a transition in unions and associations these days as they are going for strikes for the betterment of a company.

One aspect while we are technically sound, our tariffs are low; our electronics are the best electronics, the only shortcoming is that our interface with the customers, which is still a disadvantage and we are also thinking to improve that. At the end of the day, it has to be customer centric.

So, we are sorting out the problem in two ways--one is to improve our self but there is a limitation to that and the other way is outsourcing which we have started doing.

When it comes to mobile, we have our network of distributors and retailers through private channel and they basically interact with the customers. But for landline we have gone to the call center mechanism, so if somebody dials in for landline related queries, a private call center executive is responding to the calls.

Voice&Data: How true is that landline copper does not have a future? What are your thoughts on the same?

Anupam Shrivastava: Landline is going to be resurrected with BSNL being the major landline player. We still get majority of our revenue, about 50%, from landline and broadband and the rest comes from mobile and a very little portion from enterprise segment.

So still, 50% is a huge sum that contributes to our overall revenues and with our schemes such as 9 pm-7am free calls, customers would once again go back to the landline network.

And soon we will be replacing our old exchanges and coming up with new facilities for the customers--fixed mobile convergence, new equipment for the fixed line and then mobile and fixed line are going to be the same. With that, you could basically get your fixed line calls on your mobiles and vice versa and with that convergence we are just waiting our NGN (next generation network) to reach a threshold value, which is also going to be a game changer.

We have already done about 1 million lines served through our NGN exchanges. Almost 150 exchanges countrywide we have shifted to NGN and we are doing 70 million lines in this direction. Once we reach a threshold value of 4-5 million lines, we will start offering those services.

In the future, customers are going to carry their landline calls to their mobile. In case of your absence from home, you miss your landline calls so now you can carry your landline calls to your mobiles.

Voice&Data: Some states are reluctant to work with state-run PSUs like BSNL, RailTel with respect to the National Optic Fiber Network (NOFN) project? What would you like to say about that?

Anupam Shrivastava: NOFN was started with the mandate that 75 % of work would be done by BSNL and you keep aside first 3-4 months where BSNL took a bit of time to take up its work or pull up its socks but after that the pace of putting up optical fiber really picked up and at this point of time, BSNL has connected almost 30,000 villages.

While we are doing it and the pace picked up, the Government of India is thinking that probably this is not a good solution of connecting the villages. There are gaps here and there, so they revised the whole principle of extending the bandwidth to the panchayats.

Ultimately, the objective of NOFN is extending the bandwidth to the panchayats and bridge that digital divide. So BSNL was carrying out work with as high speed as possible, but now the state governments have a mandate to play a role there so that the bandwidth reaches the last mile access, otherwise it has got no use.

So, the state governments are becoming a part of the business model and therefore, they are changing the business model where the state government has to be an equal partner in extending the bandwidth to the rural people.

Voice&Data: BSNL has recently installed Wi-Fi in many tourist spots. How does the future of Wi-Fi look like?

Anupam Shrivastava: Data is the key for the progress of the overall telecom industry and we also believe in the same. When we weighed our strengths and weaknesses, we found that we are not in 4G space, we do not have spectrum for 4G and we don’t have money to buy this latest technology.

At this point of time, what we have is our huge landline network, our optical fiber network and there is a technology which is called Wi-Fi and which can work on the landline network and this Wi-Fi technology is better than 4G technology.

So the obvious choice of BSNL is to go towards Wi-Fi to meet the 4G challenge. Wi-Fi is our answer to 4G for the people and it offers more capacity than 4G.

We started rolling out Wi-Fi and we began from Varanasi, where our telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated the first Wi-Fi. So within 2-3 months, we have already completed 150 Wi-Fi hotspots.

Now, it has picked up speed and every day about 15-20 Wi-Fi hotspots are been added. In this year, we have plan to complete 2,500 hotspots in minimum 250 cities. Digital India can be a success with the extension of Wi-Fi hotspots and so we are very bullish on Wi-Fi.

Meanwhile, it’s quite premature to say but we may go for strategic alliances for 4G but till that time Wi-Fi is our answer to 4G. We are integrating Wi-Fi to our 2G, 3G networks which would be accessible through mobile phones.

Voice&Data: For Wi-Fi, what type of business models you will be adopting in the near future?

Anupam Shrivastava: Firstly, we are offering some services free, secondly we are going for revenue sharing model, wherein we will form strategic alliances with our peers as well.

We analyzed our strengths and weaknesses and we came to the conclusion that we are not a sales and marketing company and we are probably not maintaining our Wi-Fi networks also.

Keeping that in mind, we have gone for tie ups with companies which will install Wi-Fi hotspots and maintain it for five years for us and also do the sales and marketing.

While we will only extend the optical fiber and necessary bandwidth this is how we are going about Wi-Fi expansion. The Wi-Fi hotspot is not installed by BSNL but our partner and eventually whatever the revenue comes we will be sharing that among us.

For South and West, we have partnered with Quadzone. In North it is about to be finalized in a week or so. In East, we have not got the partner yet but we will shortlist one soon.

Voice&Data: Recently, you entered into an agreement with Bangladesh Sub-marine Cable Company. What similar steps can we expect from BSNL for going global?

Anupam Shrivastava: Going global was always there on the cards. The first baby step we took was by entering into an agreement with Bangladesh Sub-marine Cable Company, where we will be buying internet bandwidth from them and then supply it to the North Eastern parts of our country. For example, Tripura , Mizoram, Manipur these states are closer to Bangladesh.

Until now, we were getting international bandwidth from Chennai, Mumbai and Kochi. We were taking bandwidth from Chennai and it used to come from all the way to Bhubaneswar, Kolkata to Guwahati that was costlier and by the time it used to reach the destination the quality also used to get degraded. So, this is a win-win situation for us, which will improve internet connectivity in the North Eastern states.

We have tied up with the company and initially we have given 10 GBPS bandwidth from there to the states and it could be extended to 40 MBPS.

We are also weighing options of going global. We have sent our director to South Africa to find out what type of business model works there and what type of initiatives we can take in those markets. So, gradually we will formulate the strategies of going global. We are also in talks with various associations and US bodies to chart out plans abroad.