Amid erratic service, BSNL landlines face bleak future in Srinagar

Srinagar, Jan 27: Once considered a privilege, BSNL landlines are facing a bleak future in the summer capital in absence of timely maintenance.

BSNL landline subscribers are feeling dejected as the Corporation has failed to upgrade its existing system to provide hassle-free service to them.

Scores of subscribers, who have been loyal to BSNL for decades, said that the below par porting process and lack of maintenance have forced them to give up their connections.

They said that the existing BSNL landline customers are finding it hard to have proper maintenance to their landline, let alone switch to fibre.

“There should be a smooth process where we can switch to BSNL fibre without having to lose an old number. Although there is a process in place, as BSNL has outsourced the facility, it is a tedious and costly affair,” said Javaid Ahmad, a customer from Srinagar.

Many consumers said that they have “emotions” attached with their BSNL landline connections which their parents subscribed to with enthusiasm decades ago.

“Today, the condition is such that most of the time, our landlines are dead. Private contractors have kept a handful of people for maintenance, which makes the process lengthy. Earlier, BSNL used to be very quick to resolve issues, but now the scenario is different. I have been a customer for decades. I am planning to surrender my connection due to sloppy service.” said another customer from Srinagar.

The customers said that being a govt provider was the USP of BSNL landline. “Now as the process has been outsourced to private players, there is no logic to keep the connection.”

In addition to maintenance issues, the subscribers said that the process of switching from BSNL Landline to fibre is “slow and tedious.” They said the lack of swift processes and lucrative welcome offers is forcing customers to switch to private service providers.

“There is a lengthy process of buying the costly equipment from private players. Why won’t a customer switch to private operators like Airtel and Jio. They reach your home, do all the process for free and give additional freebies,” said Shahid Ahmad, another BSNL customer.

Meanwhile, in Srinagar’s outskirts, many locals gave up their BSNL Landline and are now unwilling to revive it. In Hazratbal outskirts, BSNL laid down a fibre connection and even gained some fresh subscribers.

“A few months into the service, there was poor performance by the private players. We had opted for a new BSNL fibre, but in a few months, due to maintenance issues, I switched to Airtel fibre. We were one of the first BSNL Landline customers in the area, but we gave up the connection, and the BSNL fibre that we had started was also disconnected by us due to lack of maintenance,” Zahid Ahmad, a local from Hazratbal, said.

Sources said that BSNL customers are in major decline due to various issues. “During peak days, Kashmir had over a lakh BSNL landline connection while Srinagar had around 40,000 users of BSNL,” he said.

“In Srinagar, the landlines have reduced to a few thousand only, and many people are giving up their connections,” said the official.

He said that a few years back, the maintenance and other operations on the ground were outsourced after the tendering process. To mention, scores of employees from troubled BSNL took voluntary retirement.

Idrees Ahamd, one of the contractors who oversees maintenance operations in Srinagar said that the subscribers have to apply for porting and they have to buy equipment from the private players.

“Soon, a new process will be initiated, which will make porting to fibre easy, and BSNL customers can retain their numbers. We are doing our best to ensure maintenance as well, however the number of subscribers of BSNL landline have gone down,” Idrees Ahmad said.

General Manager, BSNL Srinagar, Arvind Panday, said that the department has launched a major drive to ensure that more BSNL Landline customers will switch to fibre. He said that new schemes and processes will ensure that customers will be satisfied with the service.

“As far as maintenance is concerned, we have private telecom infrastructure providers (TIP) who are working under our officials. If anyone will be having any issue, they should reach out to our designated officers or to our office, and issue resolution will be ensured. If anyone wants to convert to fibre, the hardware, and other equipment are being provided by our designated private players. The new schemes and fibre push will ensure that our loyal customers will get fibre based high-speed internet and good voice calling,” Panday said.