Hyderabad: State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) aims to disrupt the hyper-competitive internet broadband market with Quantum 5G FWA, a wireless 5G broadband service only for enterprise clients. Even though private players like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have cornered 50% and 30% of the market respectively, BSNL’s 5G service comes without a SIM card using indigenous technology, according to a social media post on the company’s X handle. The biggest benefit here is the use of 5G for enterprise broadband without laying physical cables, a potential masterstroke move for internet accessibility in remote regions lacking broadband infrastructure.
Hyderabad Witnesses the Future – BSNL Q-5G FWA (Quantum 5G) Soft-Launched
Shri A. Robert J. Ravi, @CMDBSNL soft-launched the revolutionary BSNL Quantum 5G FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) service in Hyderabad.
Now live in select cities. Experience lightning-fast internet with BSNL… pic.twitter.com/AwreC4xZq1— BSNL India (@BSNLCorporate) June 19, 2025
For long, the company hasn’t been able to tap into India’s booming telecom sector, where private players in the race have left it behind to capture market share. This made it a ‘sick’ PSU for 18 years, only reporting a profit of Rs.262 cr in Q3 FY25 and another Rs.280 cr in Q4 FY25 thereafter.
BSNL is betting big on its wide infrastructure reach in remote areas of the country. With the help of revival packages from the Centre, BSNL has reduced its employee costs through a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS), debt restructuring, monetizing of core and non-core assets and boosting its 4G and 5G tower infrastructure.Though the company hasn’t made an announcement yet, it is expected to roll out its 5G services soon.
This announcement comes at a time when market leaders Jio and Airtel are already bracing for the next big disruption in the wireless internet space- satellite-based internet access. Elon Musk’s Starlink has recently received a licence to operate its services from the Department of Telecommunications, after Eutelsat, OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communications. How BSNL manages to compete against these private players with its unique solution remains to be seen.
