Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is going to launch 4G in one lakh sites across India with the help of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The state-run telco has got the approval of its board to go ahead with the TCS equipment in one lakh sites. TCS has been working with BSNL for a long time now, and both companies are together going to launch homegrown 4G networks, something that the private telcos didn't do. While the clearance from the board has come, the actual launch of the networks is still quite far away.
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DoT Needs Clearance from GoM to Issue a Purchase Order
Even though BSNL's board has given its clearance to go ahead with the TCS equipment in one lakh sites across India for 4G, there are many more steps that need to be addressed before the purchase order can be issued. According to an ET report, the state-run telco would communicate the decision of its board to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) soon.
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Post that, the telecom department would approach the Group of Ministers (GoM) by early March to get clearance for issuing a purchase order to TCS for the equipment. As part of the agreement between the two companies, TCS would supply BSNL with 4G equipment for 1 lakh sites for a total amount of Rs 24,556.37 crore.
In this deal, TCS would agree to maintain the networks of BSNL for the next 10 years. The total cost of the network equipment that TCS would supply to BSNL would be Rs 13000 crores. There would be other third-party items included as well. Tejas Networks would be manufacturing the equipment, while TCS would act as a systems integrator (SI).
Back in late 2022, TCS and ITI Limited submitted their bids to deploy the homegrown 4G networks of BSNL. ITI has a 20% reservation in the network procurement. It is worth noting that ITI would be taking the equipment from TCS itself.
