Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is very close to reaching its goal of 1 lakh 4G sites in India. The state-run telecom operatopr has installed 83,629 4G sites as on March 5, 2025. Out of these, 74,123 4G sites are on air. The company's goal is to reach deployment and comissioning of 1 lakh 4G sites by the end of June 2025. The data was shared by Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar.
The minister said that BSNL's revenues have been impacted due to delay in the roll out of 4G networks as well as a stiff competition in the mobile segment.
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When asked about whether there are plans for any VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) packages at BSNL, Chandra Sekhar said that there are no proposals under consideration in the department at the moment. The first time BSNL floated a VRS package was in 2019 when the government announced a relief package for the state-run telco. After the implementation of VRS, BSNL saw a 51% reduction in employee costs. This helped BSNL earn an operating profit of from 2020-21.
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However, due to absence of 4G, the company has not been able to make a difference in the longest time. After the deployment of 1 lakh 4G sites, BSNL also plans to roll out 5G. There are plans to deploy 5G SA (standalone) as well. BSNL is already trying to test 5G SA technology with the Indian tech makers. This time, however, there are chances that BSNL could reserve up to 50% of the sites for 5G SA for the foreign players. This would enable BSNL in competing head on with the private telecom operators.
