NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) believes state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) is 'deliberately delaying' rolling out fourth generation (4G) network, with both blaming the other for time being taken to offer high speed data services to subscribers, which is leading to continuing revenue and subscriber losses.
For the state-run telco’s upcoming tender for over 50,000 4G sites, an internal committee of the DoT had recommended that BSNL divert its focus and spending away from 2G and 3G, and use domestic gear vendors for deploying 4G-only radio and core network. The loss-making telco, which has struggled to keep pace with private operators, has opposed the suggestions, saying it still gets 60% of its revenue from 2G and using only local vendors – whose products are untested – will hamper quality of services.
Soon after the recommendations were made, BSNL wrote to DoT on October 8, citing these concerns and also saying that it will design the tender document and send it back to the DoT for vetting, which has irked the government.
"With the proposal to submit the tender document sent back to DoT only shows the intent of BSNL to delay the process of starting the Proof of Concept (PoC) and giving an opportunity to Indian suppliers who have put in efforts to create Indian core in the mobile 4G technology, including the product from C-DoT,” a senior official of the DoT said, in response to BSNL’s letter.
The official added that the whole intent of BSNL to send the letter seems to thwart the whole process of trying an indigenous product in the telecom network and “then put the blame on DoT for the delay caused, if any, during the whole process.”
The DoT is set to write to BSNL, underlining its points.
A senior BSNL official told ET that the telco is bound to follow the telecom department's instructions on the 4G tender matter. “BSNL has already clarified its position to the DoT.”
In its letter, BSNL said that having two different cores for its network – one for existing 2G and 3G and another for 4G - would impact the quality of service as there will be two different cores. Secondly, the telco is unsure about the new core which is unproven and is going to be from local companies.
“If the argument of BSNL is taken then all new procurements shall continue to support 2G/3G/4G till the time 2G and 3G services are completely shut down in the country and BSNL will be forced to procure from the same old vendors who support all technologies. Developing and trying out Indian core taking care of the security concerns of the Indian company will never happen. BSNL may take care of its concerns during PoC,” the DoT official said.
On 2G network related concerns, the DoT official said that BSNL may decide on its own to go for a multi-RAN (radio access network) for just 22,500 2G sites as a separate tender, implying that the new tender should be strictly for 4G-only gear.
Additionally, BSNL sought compensation from the government for the loss arising due to non-up-gradation of 36,000 radio from China’s ZTE, which it said would lead to an additional burden of Rs 1,250 crore in capital expenditure, and deterioration of 2G service on account of non-procurement of 2G gear and delay in the 4G rollout.
BSNL may need a reasonable network infrastructure given the widespread 2G coverage. The BSNL official, however, said that the telco would require 40% additional sites in the 2100 MHz spectrum band as compared to the 900 MHz frequencies, which he acknowledged is a superior band.
The state-run service provider has sought a 5MHz spectrum in the 2100MHz range pan India except for Rajasthan where it sought 800MHz band airwaves. In October 2019, the Cabinet, as a part of the revival package, had approved the 4G spectrum administratively at 2016 prices.
On the allocation of 4G spectrum, the department official said that the demand note for 4G spectrum cost has already been raised by Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing, and budgetary allocation for the radiowaves has been made by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
“BSNL may take the spectrum immediately...BSNL needs to quickly roll out a 4G network following the recommendation of the committee,” the DoT official said.
SI model for BSNL's 4G network
The DoT panel recently recommended the system integrator model with a preference to home-grown vendors for building BSNL’s 4G network. Analystss, however, said that it will result in cost inefficiencies, hurting the telco’s capability to compete in the market, industry experts and analysts said. They said that the system integrator (SI) model and expertise of local players in building a 4G network including both radio and core products are largely unproven.
Players like Tech Mahindra, Sterlite Technologies and TCS are looking to participate in the BSNL’s 4G network tender.
Tech Mahindra recently said it will bid for BSNL’s 4G tender, having already joined hands with ITI to build software IP, implement and maintain the 4G radio access network that will be upgraded to 5G tech. The Pune-based company recently told ET that it has the capability to build and run an entire 4G or 5G network in India.
A senior BSNL official told ET that the telco is bound to follow the telecom department's instructions on the 4G tender matter. “BSNL has already clarified its position to the DoT.”
In its letter, BSNL said that having two different cores for its network – one for existing 2G and 3G and another for 4G - would impact the quality of service as there will be two different cores. Secondly, the telco is unsure about the new core which is unproven and is going to be from local companies.
“If the argument of BSNL is taken then all new procurements shall continue to support 2G/3G/4G till the time 2G and 3G services are completely shut down in the country and BSNL will be forced to procure from the same old vendors who support all technologies. Developing and trying out Indian core taking care of the security concerns of the Indian company will never happen. BSNL may take care of its concerns during PoC,” the DoT official said.
On 2G network related concerns, the DoT official said that BSNL may decide on its own to go for a multi-RAN (radio access network) for just 22,500 2G sites as a separate tender, implying that the new tender should be strictly for 4G-only gear.
Additionally, BSNL sought compensation from the government for the loss arising due to non-up-gradation of 36,000 radio from China’s ZTE, which it said would lead to an additional burden of Rs 1,250 crore in capital expenditure, and deterioration of 2G service on account of non-procurement of 2G gear and delay in the 4G rollout.
BSNL may need a reasonable network infrastructure given the widespread 2G coverage. The BSNL official, however, said that the telco would require 40% additional sites in the 2100 MHz spectrum band as compared to the 900 MHz frequencies, which he acknowledged is a superior band.
The state-run service provider has sought a 5MHz spectrum in the 2100MHz range pan India except for Rajasthan where it sought 800MHz band airwaves. In October 2019, the Cabinet, as a part of the revival package, had approved the 4G spectrum administratively at 2016 prices.
On the allocation of 4G spectrum, the department official said that the demand note for 4G spectrum cost has already been raised by Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing, and budgetary allocation for the radiowaves has been made by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
“BSNL may take the spectrum immediately...BSNL needs to quickly roll out a 4G network following the recommendation of the committee,” the DoT official said.
SI model for BSNL's 4G network
The DoT panel recently recommended the system integrator model with a preference to home-grown vendors for building BSNL’s 4G network. Analystss, however, said that it will result in cost inefficiencies, hurting the telco’s capability to compete in the market, industry experts and analysts said. They said that the system integrator (SI) model and expertise of local players in building a 4G network including both radio and core products are largely unproven.
Players like Tech Mahindra, Sterlite Technologies and TCS are looking to participate in the BSNL’s 4G network tender.
Tech Mahindra recently said it will bid for BSNL’s 4G tender, having already joined hands with ITI to build software IP, implement and maintain the 4G radio access network that will be upgraded to 5G tech. The Pune-based company recently told ET that it has the capability to build and run an entire 4G or 5G network in India.
