By Suresh Unnithan & Nanditha Subhadra
It is deeply frustrating when a lifeline service millions depend on begins failing — especially in rural India where alternatives are limited. Connectivity drops, sluggish speeds, and outages push users toward switching providers, a frustration shared widely in villages and small towns.
Millions of ordinary Indians — farmers, students, small traders, government employees, and remote families — stick with BSNL not for superior performance, but because it is viewed as the national public provider. They expect reliability from a government-owned entity. Instead, they face chronic congestion, painfully slow data, frequent call drops, and fiber cuts that cripple connectivity for days. This is systemic failure under Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia, whose inaction since June 2024 has let a strategic national asset wither.
Scindia, who switched from Congress to the BJP in 2020, has led the Communications Ministry since June 2024. Despite repeated assurances and financial support, BSNL’s long-standing problems show little meaningful resolution.
BSNL’s Scale and the Scale of the Exodus
According to TRAI Telecom Subscription Data as on 31 May 2026 (released 25 June 2026), India’s total telephone subscriber base stood at 1,343.10 million, with wireless subscribers at 1,294.46 million. Private operators control 92.71% of the wireless market; BSNL and MTNL together hold just 7.29%.
BSNL’s wireless subscriber base was 92.91 million in May 2026. That month alone, it lost 104,660 wireless subscribers. Bharti Airtel added 2.93 million, Reliance Jio added 2.15 million, and Vodafone Idea gained 121,289. BSNL’s total broadband subscribers (wired + wireless) stood at 27.52 million in May 2026 — down sharply from 33.68 million in June 2025. It remains the fourth-largest broadband provider nationally and ranks among the top three in fixed wired broadband, yet sustained migration continues amid quality concerns.
Over the last five years, millions have ported out. The 14.46 million Mobile Number Portability requests in May 2026 alone highlight the churn toward private networks with better speeds and reliability. Many who remain do so out of necessity; BSNL’s fixed broadband serves as a critical lifeline in deep rural areas where private coverage lags.
Delayed 4G Rollout, Indigenous 5G Testing, and Persistent Service Gaps
BSNL is still navigating a delayed nationwide 4G rollout and early 5G testing with indigenous technology. The transition has produced severe network congestion, throttled speeds, and repeated fiber cuts. While over 97,000 4G towers are reportedly operational, full pan-India commercial maturity remains elusive. Right-of-Way delays, tower thefts and vandalism in some states, and coordination failures persist.
The Ministry attributes the timeline to indigenous technology choices. Self-reliance is laudable, yet it cannot excuse poor project management, slow tendering, inadequate monitoring, and unresolved ground-level bottlenecks. Billions in government revival support have been extended to BSNL. Returns in customer experience and competitiveness remain disappointing.
How This Undermines the Modi Government’s Governance Narrative
Prime Minister Narendra Modi projects an image of firm, hands-on leadership across government. Every ministry and PSU ultimately reflects on his control. When a critical digital lifeline like BSNL falters for years under a cabinet minister, that narrative takes a direct hit.
Digital India, rural connectivity, financial inclusion, e-governance, and disaster communications all depend on reliable telecom. Failure to serve core rural and poor customers — who have fewer alternatives — turns a BSNL problem into a governance problem. It fuels perceptions that big promises on Atmanirbhar Bharat and infrastructure yield tardy results when execution demands relentless follow-through.
The minister’s record of slow 4G progress despite assurances, ongoing subscriber losses, a shrinking broadband base, and visible service deterioration raises legitimate accountability questions. Citizens expected decisive leadership from the Communications Ministry. Instead, millions suffer substandard service from a company meant to embody national capability.
The Human and Political Cost
In many rural blocks, BSNL is the only dependable or affordable option, particularly for fixed broadband. When it fails, children cannot reliably attend online classes, farmers miss market prices, telemedicine stalls, and small businesses lose transactions. These are daily erosions of trust in the state’s ability to deliver modern infrastructure.
Private migration is more than commercial churn; it is a quiet referendum on BSNL’s and the ministry’s performance. Prolonged failure reinforces the narrative that public sector telecom lags and only private players deliver — a dangerous message for a government that owns and funds BSNL as a strategic asset.
Time for Accountability, Not Excuses
The Union Minister of Communications must be held responsible for BSNL’s revival pace. This requires more than tower-count press releases. It demands visible congestion fixes, faster Right-of-Way clearances via central-state coordination, stricter vendor accountability, and transparent timelines with consequences for slippage. If indigenous technology is causing delays, the minister must accelerate parallel solutions or clearly communicate revised expectations rather than let customers endure subpar service indefinitely.
BSNL’s turnaround tests whether this government can execute complex public infrastructure projects with the speed and quality its messaging promises. The evidence — millions of frustrated users, steady subscriber flight, a shrinking broadband base, and a still-lagging 4G network in mid-2026 — shows the Ministry has failed that test.
This failure reaches beyond Sanchar Bhawan to the Prime Minister’s Office and the NDA government’s reputation for decisive governance. The millions still relying on BSNL as a national lifeline deserve better. So does the public told that “sabka saath, sabka vikas” includes reliable connectivity for every citizen.
Facts speak louder than spin. The latest TRAI numbers and the lived experience of millions of BSNL users form a clear indictment. This article is ready to be forwarded to concerned authorities, media houses, parliamentary committees, and public interest platforms.