BSNL's employees union urges government action to utilize Vi's 4G network
BSNL’s employees union wants to utilise the network of Vodafone Idea (Vi) for offering 4G services and has requested the government to take immediate action on the matter. The state-run firm’s 4G network is to be deployed by TCS in a phased manner and a few thousand sites are already up and running in a few circles.
But since the network is not present pan-India, the telco has been losing customers. P Abhimanyu, General Secretary, BSNL employee’s union, said government of India is Vi’s largest shareholder with a 33.1% stake and it should utilise its status as the largest shareholder to ensure that BSNL is allowed to immediately provide 4G service to its customers by utilising the 4G network of Vi.
“This will only by a temporary measure, till BSNL’s 4G network is commissioned by the TCS,” Abhimanyu said in a letter to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Abhimanyu also told ET that he has spoken to senior officers in BSNL, who have said technically, there is no problem with such an arrangement. “Vi is also losing customers and its network is not congested, so this kind of arrangement can be good for both the companies,” he said.
In the letter, dated February 13, it has been highlighted that BSNL customers are porting out in massive numbers due to non-availability of 4G services. “The ground reality is that, both Reliance Jio and Airtel, armed with the state-of-the-art 5G technology, have started poaching BSNL’s customers,” the letter said.
As per the union, BSNL CMD had earlier informed them that pan-India
