Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has been testing the technology stack provided by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for rolling out 4G/5G in select districts. The field tests are being conducted by BSNL in four districts of Punjab. To ensure that the tech can support real-world traffic on its 4G networks, 1 crore simultaneous calls were made and according to the IT and Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the technology passed the test and after that only it was deployed for field testing.
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Vaishnaw has confirmed that from the upcoming Diwali, BSNL will start the deployment of large-scale 4G in India. The minister talked about how India has left many major developed nations behind in the pursuit of developing their own end-to-end telecom technology stack. Vaishnaw also said that in the next Diwali of 2024, you can see what the Modi government has achieved in the telecom space for yourself.
The minister also praised the fast 5G rollout that India has witnessed. In about a year since its launch, there are 3,64,000 5G sites in India. This is a speed that is unmatched by other country on the globe. As per the words of the telecom minister, BSNL will start a large-scale 4G rollout in November 2023. The state-run telco is deploying a homegr0wn 4G stack that is also upgradable to 5G with a simple software push.
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BSNL will become India's first telecom company to offer Made-in-India 4G. All the private telcos took help from companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, Huawei, and ZTE. Punjab is most likely going to be the first state from BSNL to get commercial 4G services using homegrown tech. After that, BSNL is expected to target markets such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu and more where the company has a decent standing and a prominent active user base.
BSNL to Remain an Affordable 4G Player
Even after launching 4G, BSNL will not increase the price of its services. The telco aims to be the most affordable service provider in the telecom industry. BSNL is expected to add new subscribers once it launches 4G in several parts of India. How fast can it upgrade to 5G and lock in enterprise clients is something we will have to wait and watch.
