NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) would take a decision on the much-awaited commercial launch of the fourth-generation or 4G services by state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a senior official said, following the mounting pressure from employee groups alleging ‘roadblock’ by the government.
"We can't commit any timeline for the 4G launch. It is for the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to take a final call in this matter," a senior BSNL official who does not wish to be named for the story told ETTelecom.
The official, however, added that the state-owned telecom operator has duly submitted its response to the DoT which is further set to table suggestions to the empowered technology group (ETG), headed by principal scientific advisor Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan.
BSNL is also expecting a fair hearing from the empowered group that was set up to chalk out technology and equipment procurement roadmap for the government with a focus on domestic value addition and innovation, and comprised of inter-ministerial top officials.
Tuesday, as many as eight telco groups representing employees and officials have threatened to go on nationwide strike on November 26 due to lack of seriousness from the government for BSNL's revival which according to them appeared to be a ‘distant’ dream.
The unions further said that “BSNL is a potential threat to Mukesh Ambani’s overzealous ambition of monopolising the entire telecom sector” and attributed it as a reason to create hurdles to delay the BSNL’s ambitious 4G launch.
Billionaire Ambani-owned Jio which made its 4G services debut in September 2016 has now become the country’s top telecom operator ending Sunil Mittal-driven Bharti Airtel’s market dominance in 2019.
The employee groups and trade unions also demanded that the BSNL should
be provided with a level-playing field for equipment procurement
vis-à-vis private telecom companies, and strongly objected to a system
integrator model which they say remained unproven in the telecom sector.
“We have been asking for the speedy launch of 4G services and by suggesting newer strategies such as a system integrator-led model would only further delay the commercial services launch by BSNL besides escalating the deployment cost,” P Abhimanyu, General Secretary, BSNL Employee Union (BSNLEU) said.
The Delhi-based group that represents 75,000 workforce, further said that the recommended model is susceptible to technical glitches, and likewise private sector telecom players, BSNL should also be allowed to enter into a single vendor contract for network deployment and maintenance.
Earlier, the DoT frowned over the state-controlled telco alleging that it was 'deliberately delaying' the rollout of next-generation networks following its reservations on the suggestions put forth by the technical committee headed by Member (Technology) K Ramchand that advocated the telco to cut investments on 2G networks.
Meanwhile, BSNL contradicted the DoT group saying that it has more than 60% consumers on the previous generation of network, and discontinuing services for them would be a huge revenue loss for the telco, and has also sought compensation in case of subscriber erosion.
“There were some unrealistic expectations by the panel that included discouraging 2G investments and time-bound Proof of Concept (PoC) which we have opposed,” another official said.
Last month, BSNL said that having two different cores for its network – one for existing 2G and 3G and another for 4G – and said that it was unsure about the new core which is unproven and would come from local companies.
Following the allegations of bias using restrictive terms homegrown telecom companies, BSNL had to scrap the request for proposal (RFP) floated on March 23 to procure 4G equipment as well as upgrade 49,300 2G and 3G sites to next-generation network.
In October 2019, the Cabinet had approved a rescue plan for the ailing BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) that included Virtual Retirement Scheme (VRS). allocation of 4G airwaves, and assets monetisation.
“We have been asking for the speedy launch of 4G services and by suggesting newer strategies such as a system integrator-led model would only further delay the commercial services launch by BSNL besides escalating the deployment cost,” P Abhimanyu, General Secretary, BSNL Employee Union (BSNLEU) said.
The Delhi-based group that represents 75,000 workforce, further said that the recommended model is susceptible to technical glitches, and likewise private sector telecom players, BSNL should also be allowed to enter into a single vendor contract for network deployment and maintenance.
Earlier, the DoT frowned over the state-controlled telco alleging that it was 'deliberately delaying' the rollout of next-generation networks following its reservations on the suggestions put forth by the technical committee headed by Member (Technology) K Ramchand that advocated the telco to cut investments on 2G networks.
Meanwhile, BSNL contradicted the DoT group saying that it has more than 60% consumers on the previous generation of network, and discontinuing services for them would be a huge revenue loss for the telco, and has also sought compensation in case of subscriber erosion.
“There were some unrealistic expectations by the panel that included discouraging 2G investments and time-bound Proof of Concept (PoC) which we have opposed,” another official said.
Last month, BSNL said that having two different cores for its network – one for existing 2G and 3G and another for 4G – and said that it was unsure about the new core which is unproven and would come from local companies.
Following the allegations of bias using restrictive terms homegrown telecom companies, BSNL had to scrap the request for proposal (RFP) floated on March 23 to procure 4G equipment as well as upgrade 49,300 2G and 3G sites to next-generation network.
In October 2019, the Cabinet had approved a rescue plan for the ailing BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) that included Virtual Retirement Scheme (VRS). allocation of 4G airwaves, and assets monetisation.
