Bottom falls out of BSNL's customer base: over 1 crore surrender basic phones in four years

Mumbai: For Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the balance has tilted in favour of mobile phones as people all over the country, with five lakh people from Andhra Pradesh in the lead, are surrendering fixed phones. Other south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka are closing in, too, while Maharashtra and Gujarat are not too far behind.

BSNL's attempts in the recent past to make basic phones an attractive proposition have failed to cut any ice with customers. They have been found complaining of high rentals or poor service. In 2002-03, no less than 18 lakh people surrendered their BSNL or Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) fixed phones. Again, within a year, another 32 lakh followed suit. The figure has steadily risen upwards, with 34 lakh and 36 lakh in the next year giving up the BSNL facility.