Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is one telecom operator which has lost its competitive edge to other telecom operators because of its lack of 4G network. However, despite that, the telecom operator is deploying and testing 4G network in many states. These are some areas where the BSNL subscribers are enjoying high speed and high quality services. One of the major circles of BSNL is Kerala, and other south Indian states like Telangana are also getting to enjoy BSNL 4G services. 25 towns of Telangana and 11 districts of Andhra Pradesh state are currently having access to BSNL 4G services. Overall, in Telangana, BSNL has 409 sites in total.
Allocation of Spectrum to BSNL in 2,100MHz Band
To recall, way back in December 2017 reports had surfaced which highlighted that BSNL’s 4G services would first be launched in Chennai circle and that the telco had allotted 288 4G towers, 468 3G towers and 365 2G towers in the city for the rollout of the service. However, the launch of the 4G network was further delayed. Another report surfaced in June 2018, when BSNL announced an expansion in Karnataka with massive deployment in the state. During that time, BSNL had announced setting up of 30,000 4G towers in the country, with 10,000 being set up in Karnataka alone.
Later came the news of news of allocation of the 2,100 MHz spectrum to the government led telecom operator as it received the nod from the cabinet. The use of five additional units on the 2,100MHz spectrum gave a boost to BSNL’s 4G connectivity which was being relayed using 3G airwaves previously. With the use of this spectrum, BSNL could also now practise better airwaves utilisation by offering spectrum contiguity.
Regions of 4G Connectivity for BSNL
While taking a look at the State of Mobile Networks report February 2019, we got to know the scale at which BSNL is using the 3G network for its connectivity. The telco heavily relies on 3G connectivity rather than 4G connectivity. However, with that being said, the map of connectivity for BSNL does not lack 4G sites. There are some spots across India where we were able to spot 4G zones where BSNL has started its services. The report showed that BSNL had a 4G presence in very tiny circles in a few cities of Chhattisgarh, regions near Nagpur, Gujarat, regions near Pune and central Maharashtra, some areas in Kerala with good 4G connectivity and a few sites in Odisha, Bihar, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. As mentioned above, BSNL recently launched 4G services in Telangana circle and also providing services in Andhra Pradesh for a while now.
These locations also seem consistent with the previous announcements of BSNL where the telco had highlighted that it would start its services in Gujarat and Idukki district of Kerala after a round of pilot testing. In the report by Tutela, BSNL’s 4G download speed stood at 6.8 Mbps, which is the second best on the list after Airtel and its 3G speed was the best among the lot, pegged at 3.3 Mbps.
BSNL Smart Plan Launched For Heavy Data Users
BSNL has recently launched a smart plan focusing on heavy data users in Kerala circle, currently BSNL is offering 4G services in various part of Kerala circle other benefits of the BSNL Smart Plan Rs 234 include 100 SMSes per day and unlimited voice calling. Kerala is the major telecom circle for BSNL and the company has over 10 million customers in the state. The Smart Plan priced at Rs 234 from BSNL ships with unlimited voice calling (with daily cap), 100 SMSes per day and 90GB data benefit and the validity of the plan is 30 days.
