Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state-run Indian telecom operator, is sourcing telecom gear to roll out homegrown 4G from Tejas Networks. Tejas is a Tata Group-owned company that is providing Radio Access Network (RAN) products to BSNL. But this is not the limit that Tejas wants to put on itself. The company is looking beyond the BSNL opportunity and wants to sign more customers.
Arnob Roy, Chief Operating Officer and Whole Time Director, Tejas Networks, said that the company is currently engaged in multiple PoCs (Proof of Concepts) with potential customers. So the work for Tejas is already ongoing when it comes to looking for opportunities beyond BSNL. Roy was speaking at the Q4 FY24 post-earnings call.
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At present, the opportunities are all within India, where Roy said their radios are deployed as part of critical infrastructure and are also being tested by the telcos. The company is also hoping to line up some international opportunities in the future. If the trials with these Indian companies are successful, Tejas Networks will have the leverage to knock on the doors internationally.
During the fourth quarter, Tejas Networks shipped a lot of equipment for the 4G/5G RAN to be used in the BSNL network. Equipment has been shipped for more than 10,000 sites, while for the remaining 90,000 sites, the equipment is to be deployed in the next three to four quarters, said Roy.
Further, Tejas has been engaged in the largest deployment of indigenous IP/MPLS routers in the country. It is used on BSNL's MAAN network, which is the backhaul network for the 4G/5G mobile network.
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According to ET, Roy said that while their RAN equipment is getting deployed in different zones for BSNL, C-DoT core is not there. So in sites where the C-DoT core is not there, the RAN equipment is getting integrated into the existing core. Once C-DoT core is deployed, the equipment will be parented to the new core.
