It is difficult to say what works for BSNL. The private players like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, RIL etc etc. came, saw and conquered and yet the slow government giant carried on as if nothing had happened. The mobile connections overtook the fixedline connections and yet BSNL was not concerned. Or was it not?
For people who have been having BSNL connection for the last few decades it is not true. This giant has changed. No.no. I am not meaning it is now providing exceptional service, great customer support or anything like that, but when you go to their office. they talk and if you are lucky with a smile too.
What works for BSNL is that it has some real great offers. be it fixed line, mobile or even broadband. The prices are down and they will not cheat you when the bill comes home. I am not saying that things are perfect, but you don’t need a PHD to understand the bill. The landline/ broadband is available in most remote areas as well. try that with suburbs of a city with any private player. Eg.: I live 14 kms from the center of Bangalore(Near Magadi Road) and none of the service providers have broadband except BSNL! This areas is under the Bangalore Corporation!
What works for BSNL is that they are not after profitability and the sales guy will not talk smooth. he will say the actual cost that you will pay and no ifs. and buts. BSNL also provides discounts for senior citizens, rural connections, students etc.
Ofcourse the negative is that you still have to deal with a lot of paperwork. still have to travel to the telephone exchange or their commercial office and still have to stand in the queue. Their address verification is nothing short police verification. but hey you can get loan based on a BSNL bill as address proof.
To sum up. keep your service level expectation to minimum and go for BSNL.