Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the state-owned telecom operator is getting huge backing from the Indian government for the 4G rollout. While surely the 4G rollout plans of the telco have been delayed quite a bit, the Modi government is ensuring that it happens this time.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Information Technology (IT) minister, in Lok Sabha, said it will take time for BSNL to come out of the poor state it was left in by the previous government.
According to a TribuneIndia report, Vaishnaw said that there’s no magician and that the government is trying its best to revive BSNL in the best manner possible.
Government Wanted BSNL to Go With Homegrown 4G
The Government of India’s (GoI) intentions were clear with BSNL’s 4G. GoI wanted BSNL to go with homegrown 4G and that is why the telco is working with the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) for months now to conduct successful 4G trials. The trials are about to end soon and BSNL will make the order for 4G equipment sometime in April 2022.
Vaishnaw has previously said that the 4G rollout by BSNL can be expected by August or September of 2022. This could be possible if the trials are finished within February.
India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman had also said in the Lok Sabha that BSNL is a strategic asset for the country and the Modi government is giving the state-run telco money for the 4G spectrum to make it more competitive.
BSNL has indeed received a ton of help from the current government in the form of a relief package which helped it in introducing the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for its old employees and clearing the salary dues.
While there have been multiple delays already, 2022 is highly anticipated to be the year when BSNL finally comes out with 4G networks across India. The quality of service would determine the kind of competition it will give to the private telcos. If BSNL’s 4G networks are successful in providing decent services, it would change the market dynamic for good.
