BSNL to DoT: Forcing to Buy Unproven 4G Gear from Local Vendors Will Delay in Network Rollout

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited or BSNL has once again informed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that the procurement of local gear for deploying 4G services would create a lot of issues. As per the latest report by ET Telecom, BSNL has told the DoT that forcing it to purchase 4G telecom gear from local vendors will cause delays in rolling out the next-generation services to customers. BSNL also added that the gear from local vendors would be ‘globally unproven’ and that could cause a delay of at least 18 months for rolling out the services. Besides, BSNL also highlighted to DoT that the regionally procured infrastructure would result in increased costs and could result in frequent network quality issues.

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BSNL Now Says the Local 4G Gear Will Reduce its Survival Chances

The state-run telco reached out to DoT several times in recent months regarding the purchase of locally made gear. As part of the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat programme, a technology group earlier suggested BSNL to fully make use of the gear made by local vendors. However, BSNL complained to DoT saying the local OEMs are charging close to 90% more for a single 4G tender compared to the tenders from global vendors.

In a recent meeting held between the DoT and BSNL’s leadership members, they urged the telecom department to have a level-playing field in the industry. The leadership team of BSNL told DoT that the usage of local gear policy must also apply to the top three telcos- Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.