Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has hit yet another roadblock when it comes to the 4G rollout. The telco has been denied a proposal for upgrading its 2G and 3G sites in the western and southern zones to 4G. It is worth noting that BSNL had already received the nod from NSCS (National Security Council Secretariat) for going ahead with the upgradation of the sites. But despite the approval, the government nominees in the company’s board have denied the proposal of the state-run telco to go ahead with upgrading the 2G/3G sites in southern and western India.
13,533 2G and 3G BSNL Sites Could Have Been Upgraded, But Govt Said No
The government nominees at BSNL’s board had expressed security concerns about upgrading the BSNL sites to 4G. Thus, BSNL went and got the approval from NSCS, but it also didn’t work and satisfy the government.
According to a Financial Express report, NSCS had given its nod to BSNL for going ahead with Nokia as the equipment supplier for the sites. But the government nominees believe even that’s not safe.
For the unaware, the government itself has appointed ‘NSCS’ as the designated portal for the telecom companies to get approval before purchasing equipment from a vendor. NSCS will determine whether a vendor’s equipment/product is safe for the telcos and the nation.
Because of the ‘no’ from the government nominees, now BSNL can’t upgrade its 13,533 sites of 2G/3G to 4G in southern and western India. All these constant interruptions will only push BSNL away from a successful future. The telco should have been given the nod to go ahead with the 4G upgradation if it had received permission from NSCS. But since it hasn’t, it raises a lot of questions as to what will happen to the telco’s 4G network if it isn’t allowed to go ahead with 4G upgradation in case Indian vendors aren’t ready.
