BSNL to Start 4G Service in 2 Weeks, 5G Upgrade Planned for December

State-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is launching 4G network with 200 sites after three months of trial. The company may soon increase its network to an average of 200 sites per day. The company has placed orders worth over Rs 19,000 crore to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and ITI Ltd for rolling out 4G network at around 1.23 lakh sites.

IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told that BSNL India’s 4G network is planned to be upgraded to 5G by December. He said, “We have developed 4G-5G stack in the country. The installation of this stack has started with BSNL. It has been completed at 200 sites between Chandigarh and Dehradun and the service will start in the next two weeks.” After three months of testing, we will go ahead with an average of 200 sites a day, then upgrade to 5G by December with minor software adjustments.”

5G services were launched in the country last year. Private telecom companies Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have started 5G services in many cities. Last month, BSNL started 4G services as a trial in some areas of Punjab. The company has set a target of increasing its market share from 15 percent to 20 percent in three years. The company’s current market share across the country is nine per cent. It says that it has no plans to go into the stock market as it has sufficient resources available with it.

Recently, the company’s Chairman and Managing Director, PK Purwar had said, “In the next three years, the company will spend Rs 30,000 crore on upgrading the network.” He said that the country has indigenous 4G There will be equipment and new technology will increase the coverage of BSNL. The central government has reserved spectrum for BSNL in the 600 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands, which will be used to provide 5G services. Earlier, Tejas Networks, another Tata group company, was awarded an order of Rs 696 crore by BSNL for the upgrade of IP-MPLS based access and aggregation network.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)

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