State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is expected to launch 5G services in Delhi and other select cities by the end of September, senior officials said on Friday, according to a Business Standard report. The company has already conducted 5G technology tests at several newly installed 4G sites, which are part of its ongoing plan to deploy one lakh 4G towers nationwide.
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BSNL 5G Trials Underway
According to officials, BSNL has activated 5G services at sites in major state capitals including Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Kolkata, Patna, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Most of these are newly installed 4G sites under the first phase of the 1 lakh sites deployment, the officials quoted in the report said.
"A stepwise plan will be implemented to roll out 5G across telecom circles, after the first 1 lakh towers are found to be operating optimally and meeting quality-of-service requirements," an official reportedly said. The strategy mirrors BSNL’s earlier circle-wise 4G rollout, which was completed in all four metro cities before December 2024.
Also Read: Around 70,000 BSNL 4G Towers Out of 1 Lakh Are Now Active and Performing Better
Second Phase of 4G Tower Installation
As of May 2025, BSNL has installed over 93,000 4G towers, with more than 70,000 currently operational. The telco plans to initiate a second phase of deployment involving another one lakh towers. The 4G rollout, which began significantly later than private players like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, had been delayed multiple times, leading to a decline in BSNL's customer base. Its mobile services market share stood at 7.82 percent in May 2025.
Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had earlier announced that BSNL would complete its 4G rollout by June 2025, with the capability to upgrade sites to 5G within a month. The company has also begun testing 5G network infrastructure in telecom circles where it maintains a strong presence.
Also Read: BSNL Names Its 5G Service as Q 5G, Launches Quantum 5G FWA in Select Circles
Network Testing and BTS Rollout
While the telco officially plans to begin 5G operations in the next three months, network infrastructure for the new technology is already being tested in telecom circles where BSNL has a strong presence, officials reportedly said.
"We are also rolling out base transceiver stations (BTS) in many cities across the country such as Kanpur, Pune, Vijayawada, Coimbatore, and Kollam," an official reportedly said.
In addition to major cities, BSNL is deploying base transceiver stations (BTS) in several urban centres. The rollout in Delhi will follow a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) model, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Robert J Ravi said recently.
Also Read: BSNL to Deploy Additional 1 Lakh 4G Towers
BSNL 5G Fixed Wireless Access
The company has also launched a free 4G SIM upgrade program in select circles, offering 4GB of complimentary data valid for three months to users migrating from 2G or 3G services.
Earlier this month, BSNL introduced its own 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) solution, named Quantum 5G FWA, in Hyderabad. The solution is expected to be piloted in Bengaluru, Puducherry, Visakhapatnam, Pune, Gwalior, and Chandigarh by September, marking BSNL's entry into the FWA segment.
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