Karnataka - Mysore   

‘BSNL focussing on sales, not customer care'

MYSORE: Marking World Telecom Day here on Tuesday, the Karnataka circle of the All India BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.) Executives' Association, held its fourth circle conference themed ‘Better life in rural communities with information and communication technologies'.

P. Raghavan, Chief General Manager (Telecom), Karnataka Circle, inaugurated the conference at Sri Krishna Sabha Bhavan here.

Mayor Pushpalatha Chikkanna was the guest of honour.

According to the association, information and communication technologies provide enhanced opportunities in rural areas to generate income and combat poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy.

Another occasion

May 17 also marked the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunications Union, said a copy of the association circle secretary H.Y. Andeli's address at the open session.

Incurring losses

Addressing the open session, Mr. Andeli said, “The financial condition of BSNL is serious…”

BSNL had recorded a net profit of over Rs. 10,000 crore in 2005-06. During 2005, BSNL was about to reach number one position in the mobile communications market, “but due to political interference, mismanagement, equipment crunch and complex tendering process, it started to lose market share and is now positioned fourth in the market. The present market share of BSNL is only 14.21 per cent,” Mr. Andeli said.

BSNL was concentrating on sales and marketing without giving importance to customer care and services, he noted. “Adding insult to injury, our cable network was damaged due to road-widening, drainage installation, etc. The company, however, had not procured cables for the last four years and, therefore, cable faults could not be attended to. Customers were leaving us for private players because of inadequate services,” Mr. Andeli said. In view of this, the Joint Action Committee of executives and non-executives of the association and unions had decided to observe May as ‘customer delight month'.

Some of the suggestions given by the circle secretary included: landline rent should be fixed in such a way that it did not exceed mobile phone bill; more staff should be employed to provide services; optimum utilisation of manpower; and the validity period for free SIM cards should be six months.

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