Although Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was late in bringing 4G service for its subscribers, it has taken substantial steps in the past few months to hasten the 4G rollout in the country. The state-led telecom operator started offering the 4G VoLTE service firstly in Kerala circle. In fact, in almost the entire state, BSNL is now offering 2G and 4G service and has stopped offering 3G services. In the next phase, BSNL is now starting to offer 4G VoLTE services in Gujarat circle. In the Gujarat circle, subscribers with BSNL 4G SIM have received messages intimating them about the start of 4G VoLTE services in the region. BSNL has also shared plans of rolling out the service nationwide in the upcoming days after it is awarded the 4G spectrum by the government. Currently, the telco has started offering 4G VoLTE service from the Gandhinagar and Anjar district.
BSNL Giving Free 2GB of Bonus Data on 4G SIM Upgrade
To spread the word about its newly launched 4G service, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited had started providing free data to the subscribers who were updating to BSNL 4G SIM. BSNL had announced back in January, that subscribers in Chennai circle who are upgrading to 4G SIM would get free bonus data. With the new SIM purchase and upgrade to 4G SIM, BSNL was providing 2GB free data to its subscribers. As per the previous announcements by BSNL, the services were to go live in Gandhidham and Anjar town of Gujarat, where 3G services were to be kept at hold while maintaining the 2G network running alongside the new 4G services.
A few subscribers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited in Gujarat received an SMS on their phones regarding the activation of 4G services along with VoLTE. Finally, after the period of pilot testing and 4G deployment on 3G spectrum, subscribers of BSNL in Gujarat will be able to experience high-speed internet which was reported to be as high as 20 Mbps during the testing period back in 2018.
BSNL Expanding 4G Reach to Other Parts of India
It is worth noting that BSNL has been on the task of testing its 4G services from quite some time now. The main reason behind BSNL’s widening losses has also been because of its lack of 4G network. The Tutela report of India’s telecom networks also noted the same thing and notified that the BSNL 4G network was not dense and only present in selected locations. Now the telecom operator is eyeing the commercial launch of BSNL 4G in the coming months. The start of the VoLTE service in Gujarat is already the hint towards the BSNL 4G commercial launch. Back in October 2018, the first BSNL 4G tower was commissioned in Nunna (in Vijayawada). Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited services were also live in rural Nagpur region and Bhiwapur.
Right now, BSNL is asked to submit survival strategy to the government, post which it'll receive 4G airwaves to launch full-fledged high-speed internet services in the country.
