BSNL posts its first back-to-back profits in 18 years and launches indigenous 4G

ETTelecom described 2025 as a turnaround year for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). After 18 years it reported back-to-back profits for the first time, ₹262 crore in the third quarter and ₹280 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25. Total operating revenue for FY25 rose 7.8% year on year to ₹20,841 crore, and quarterly revenue in the first two quarters of FY26 was ₹5,026 crore and ₹5,347 crore.

The network side of the plan was a commercial 4G launch. A consortium led by TCS, with Tejas Networks as RAN vendor and C-DoT supplying the core, built the network. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the indigenous 4G network at over 92,000 sites in September 2025, covering more than 26,700 villages for the first time. TCS said the project, on more than 1 lakh sites, was completed within two years. A ₹47,000 crore capex plan was described by the communications minister, and a tender for up to 10,000 more 4G sites was floated in November.

BSNL also refreshed its logo and launched services including spam blocking, Wi-Fi roaming for fibre customers, SIM kiosks, eSIM, and a 5G fixed wireless service in pilot cities. Its subscriber count rose from 87 million to 91 million during FY25, the first increase in recent years, and in August it beat Bharti Airtel in rural subscriber additions. The minister set a target of ₹27,500 crore, a 20% revenue rise for the full year.

FY25 revenue up 7.8% to ₹20,841 crore; profits of ₹262 crore and ₹280 crore in Q3 and Q4; subscribers 87 million to 91 million.

Lack of 4G coverage had left BSNL unable to hold subscribers against Jio and Airtel.

A government-funded capex plan (₹47,000 crore) paid for the network upgrade.

An indigenous stack built by TCS, Tejas Networks and C-DoT delivered the rollout in about two years.

Customer-facing launches, from eSIM to post-office SIM sales, widened distribution.

A state-owned telco's turnaround started with fixing the product gap (4G coverage), not just cost: network rollout, customer-facing services and revenue targets moved together.

The turnaround was incomplete. ETTelecom notes BSNL continued to lose active subscribers to Jio and Airtel, with IIFL Capital showing a slide from 58.2 million in March 2025 to 55.4 million in October 2025. The Q2 FY26 revenue of ₹5,347 crore was below the ₹5,740 crore target, about a 93% run rate, and the full-year ₹27,500 crore goal remained a target.