Customers have turned to state-run telco BSNL after Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea cellular tariff hikes. BSNL, which has attracted customers with its low-cost plans, has announced that it will roll out its first nationwide 4G service in the next few months. A news collection about this.
Recently, central Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who said that the number of BSNL customers is increasing, said that the 4G network is ready and the work of converting this network to 5G is going on in earnest. He also assured that BSNL 4G service will be available across the country in the next few months. Hence, expectations about BSNL service have increased.
The central government also plans to export indigenously designed 4G and 5G network technology to interested countries. In this regard, bilateral trade negotiations have been held with nine countries, including Kenya, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea and Egypt, while requests were received from 15 foreign telecommunications companies.
For this, BSNL has partnered with a consortium led by IT firm TCS and state-run telecom research and development organization C-DOT to deploy indigenously developed 4G technology in the network.
The government’s plan to introduce 4G telecommunication technology abroad by August 2024 after testing it domestically has been delayed due to various reasons. Meanwhile, BSNL has been trying to launch its 4G network for the past two years.
Now, the government has set a target of completing one lakh towers of BSNL’s 4G network by March 2025.
Already, 15,000 4G towers have been built in places including Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, West Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. BSNL plans to increase this number to 80,000 by the end of October. The remaining 21,000 4G towers are scheduled to be completed by early next year.
It has been announced that BSNL will start offering 4G services by March and 5G services within the next 8 months.
With Reliance Jio’s investments in next-generation network and digital technologies and increased market share, BSNL is gearing up to compete with Jio.
BSNL is expected to take the top spot in the telecom market by capitalizing on Prime Minister Modi’s vision of a self-reliant India.
Discussion about this post