BSNL Dropping Strong Hints About Rolling Out 4G Services

State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has been planning to roll out its 4G services in pan India for quite some time now. The telco which already has more than ten crore mobile customers and hopes that launch of LTE based 4G services will bolster its offering to customers by allowing them to enjoy faster data speeds and improve the overall user experience. BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava had told PTI in March that the telco is planning to invest Rs 4300 crore for network expansion in FY 2018-2019. The investment of Rs 4,300 crore will go into the mobile network strengthening, and upgrading broadband infrastructure.

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Shrivastava added that the government-owned PSU has plans to install 12,000 3G mobile towers and 10,000 4G towers to expand its coverage. This will have a provision for 100% expansion mapped to BSNL’s 4G services roll out and spectrum allocation, he concluded.

The telco currently has 5MHz spectrum in the 2100 MHz band that would be sufficient to get its 4G project rolling initially. BSNL currently offers 2G and 3G mobile services but will need additional 5MHz spectrum in the same band to expand the 4G services across the country.

So what’s the current status of BSNL service in the country?
As of now, BSNL 4G Service has been rolled out in Kerala as part of company’s expansion plans. The company is also testing trail service in Karnataka region, and new 4G towers are being installed in the state.