Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia today signed a network modernisation agreement, under which the latter will support the former's launch of 4G and VoLTE services in southern and western regions of India. Nokia will deploy its Single Radio Access Network (RAN) software, which will simplify network installation and at the same time allows BSNL to save operational costs as it supports 2G, 3G and 4G subscribers in a single radio unit. Implementation of VoLTE technology will enable the government-owned company to compete with private telecom operators such as Airtel, Reliance Jio. VoLTE also offers faster call setup time like Reliance Jio.
Nokia will deploy the technology in ten telecom circles- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana. In the said circles, BSNL has nearly 38 million subscribers, and the company is aiming to serve large cities, businesses, tourist and technology hubs.
"Hunger for consistent change and innovation provides the fuel to drive us towards excellence. With this in our core, we are striving to offer the best in class network speed, coverage and capacity using the best technology available," said Anupam Shrivastava, Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL.
"We are pleased to continue our longstanding relationship with BSNL on this important project in India. The deployment of our technologies will enable BSNL to launch exciting new voice and data services, satisfying growing demand in India," said Sanjay Malik, head of India Market at Nokia.
This is not the first time BSNL is partnering with Nokia as the telco last year had signed a MoU to explore and develop the applications of 5G in the country.
In the recently posted Nokia MBiT Index 2018, it was revealed 4G contributed to 82% of data traffic in 2017, along with a monthly 4G data usage per user was nearly 11GB per month. And the deployment will allow BSNL to offer better data services in the country.
Last month, BSNL launched 4G services in five cities of Kerala circle, but that was based on a 3G spectrum. It is also said to introduce 4G in other parts such as Arunachal Pradesh and Chennai very soon.
