Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced that 5000 sites are now operational under the 4G saturation project. The 4G saturation project is now growing at a healthy pace. Back in July 2024, BSNL announced that it had achieved 1000 site deployments under this project. However, in just three months, the figure has reached 5000 sites. The state-run telecom company is using homegrown technology provided by TCS-led consortium which includes Tejas Networks and C-DoT.
"This initiative aims to connect the unconnected, ensuring that no village, no matter how remote, is left behind in India’s digital revolution," BSNL said.
Read More - BSNL Reaches 41000 4G Sites Milestone
The 4G saturation project is an initiative from the central government which aims to connect uncovered villages (about 24,680) around the whole country. These villages are not a priority for the private telcos due to the low returns factor. However, using the USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund), now known as Digital Bharat Nidhi, the government is ensuring that every village gets access to high-speed connectivity the way urban cities or small towns do.
BSNL has also reached the milestone of 41,000 4G sites. This means that it has completed 41% of its target of reaching 1 lakh sites. BSNL's 4G using Nokia tech was already live in many parts of the country, now the homegrown sites are also live providing high-speed internet connectivity to the users.
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The Indian government wants BSNL to make a comeback with 4G. However, the government didn't want BSNL to use the foreign tech provided by players like Nokia and Ericsson. While this has delayed the 4G rollout for BSNL, it has also paved the way for indigenous technology to prosper. BSNL will reach its target of 1 lakh 4G sites using homegrown tech by mid-2025, said Jyotiraditya M Scindia, union telecom minister of India.
