63 lakhs Port Out (PO) from BSNL in FY 2020-21 due to lack of extensive 4G coverage

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) witnessed almost 100 per cent increase in Port Out (PO) in the financial year 2020-21 compared to the financial year 2019-20 owing to the lack of extensive 4G coverage in its mobile network.

As per the figures of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) during the last three years laid on the floor of the Rajya Sabha, BSNL in FY 2018-19 saw 28.27 lakhs Port Out (PO) and 53.64 lakhs Port In (PI) with a PO/PI ratio of 0.53. Whereas in FY 2019-20, BSNL saw 32.69 Lakhs Port Out (PO) and 39.20 Lakhs Port In (PI) with a PO/PI ratio of 0.83.

However, in FY 2020-21 BSNL saw 63.36 lakhs Port Out (PO) and 17.14 lakhs Port In (PI) with a PO/PI ratio of 3.7.

“As can be seen from the Table above, BSNL has gained subscribers during FY 2018-19 and 2019-20 even in the wake of challenging competition in the telecom market. However, in FY 2020-21, more subscribers have ported out due to lack of extensive 4G coverage in BSNL network,” said MoS for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan.

The sheer increase in the volume of Port Out (PO) and decrease of Port In (PI) indicates the challenging situation of the struggling TSP. BSNL however has managed to keep its subscriber base steady in the rural areas.

“Numbers of subscribers of BSNL in rural areas are increasing. However, there is slight drop in number of subscribers in FY 2020-21,” said MoS for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan.