Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) troubles have been increasing since the data tariff war. The telecom operator has been having a hard time holding on to its subscribers and is exhausting all its options to better its situations like introducing new plans, tariff vouchers and more. However, what can truly help BSNL in its situation is a prominent 4G network. While all the other telcos have taken the leap of the 4G network, BSNL has been slow to approach the fourth-generation network technology. Now even though the telco has started deployment of 4G in certain circles, it has a lot of work to do. Here is some update on BSNL’s 4G progress.
BSNL 4G Services in Karnataka
The first big announcement from BSNL about a prominent 4G rollout for its subscribers was in the circle of Karnataka. The telco had announced in June 2018, that it would be rolling out the 4G network in as much as 130 cities of the state. During this, the telco had also said that it would be installing 30,000 towers in the country, out of which 10,000 would be set up in Karnataka alone. It is worth noting that Karnataka remains one of the top circles for BSNL where it has a lot of broadband connection and paying subscribers. As such, the state seemed to be the obvious choice for BSNL 4G network.
Permission to Acquire Airwaves from DoT
Last year in September, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) finally cleared BSNL’s plans of acquiring 4G airwaves. For this, BSNL had compiled and submitted a detailed report to get the 2,100 MHz band with the aim of rolling out 4G services. The total spectrum cost during this was Rs 13,885 out which BSNL had sought Rs 6,652 in the form of equity infusion from the government, which the telco had committed to pay during the next ten years.
BSNL 4G Availability in South-Indian States
Apart from Karnataka, BSNL has also been active with its 4G network in the other South Indian states as well. For example, in Kerala, BSNL is offering 4G and 2G network instead of 3G in almost all cities. The government led telco is also offering 4G services in 25 towns of Telangana and 11 districts of Andhra Pradesh.
A big success for BSNL in its attempt to galvanize the 4G network was the spectrum allocation from DoT in the 2,100 Mhz band. The use of five additional units on the 2,100 MHz spectrum has also given a boost to the 4G network of BSNL. Not only this, but BSNL has also got 4G sites in Chhattisgarh, regions near Nagpur, Gujarat, areas near Pune and central Maharashtra.
