India Adds Over 4,100 New 5G BTS in October 2025

Tariff Hikes 2025

Indian telecom operators are gradually increasing tariffs, either through direct price corrections or indirectly by reducing plan validity without changing prices. Given the current trend, more price revisions are expected in the coming days.

Also Read: India Adds Over 4,000 New 5G BTS in June 2025

BSNL

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has reportedly floated a new tender to deploy up to 10,000 new 4G sites under an operational expenditure (Opex) model. Additionally, its 5G Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) in Delhi is expected to deliver commercial 5G services early next year.

“We have also released a tender on the Opex model for another 10,000 sites. We will not buy the equipment. For 10 years, we’ll keep paying monthly rent. This is another model we are introducing, and if it is successful, we’ll put this model across the country,” BSNL Chairman A Robert J Ravi told ETTelecom, adding that the telco would follow a rental mechanism.

Recently, BSNL invited bids from companies to further densify its 4G coverage, complementing the ongoing deployment by the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-led consortium. The tender requires bidders to be either original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of 4G RAN or system integrators (SIs) participating in a consortium with an OEM, according to the report.

“We are confident, maybe in the next 6 months, we will have 5G in Delhi,” the top BSNL official reportedly said, adding that the telco is “making concentrated efforts” in a few cities to launch 5G services.

The public sector telco is also aiming to commercially launch 5G in Visakhapatnam, a port city and industrial hub in Andhra Pradesh.