Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has said that it will upgrade 2910 existing 2G/3G towers in Gujarat to 4G. The state-run telecom operator will utilise homegrown/indigenous 4G technology provided by TCS led consortium. The rollout has already started in many parts of the country and will soon be completed in Gujarat too.
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Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, minister of state for communications, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said, "Existing equipment of 2G, 3G technology at 2,910 locations/ Towers in rural areas of Gujarat are planned for replacement with indigenously developed 4G technology by BSNL. Further, the Union Cabinet on 27.07.2022 has approved 4G Saturation Scheme to provide 4G mobile services in uncovered villages across the country and as a part of this scheme, 949 villages of Gujarat are planned for 4G services."
Further, the minister confirmed that with the BharatNet project, the government is driving broadband connectivity to all the gram panchayats (GPs) and villages in the country. Specifically in the rural areas of Gujarat, Pemmasani said, "BharatNet connectivity has been extended to 14, 316 GPs
as on 31.10.2024 and balance GPs/non-GP villages (on demand) are planned under Amended BharatNet Programme."
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Apart from this, the government has confirmed that in FY24, the employee cost of BSNL was only 39% of the total revenue earned in FY24. He said that because of the revival packages that were introduced by the government, the telco has started showing operating profits in the books. The goal of the government is to make BSNL report a profit in the books by FY27. For this, the company is driving 4G connectivity throughout the country and also planning to launch 5G services in the coming year. The core that BSNL is using for 4G will also be upgradable to 5G.
