The indigenously developed fourth generation or 4G technology to be deployed by state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) would be economical and would overcome network security-related fears such as hidden backdoors in telecom equipment, said Department of Telecommunications (DoT) secretary K Rajaraman.
“The 4G technology (developed indigenously) would work, and is very critical for India from a security and economic perspective, because you will get to make in India and also you will ensure that there are no hidden backdoors which can be exploited later on,” Rajaraman told ET.
The locally developed 4G technology could be a milestone for India as it might help reduce dependency on multinationals such as Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson, which dominate the Indian market, while Chinese gear maker Huawei is accused of backdoors by the US and a few of its European allies.
Earlier, the UK-based Vodafone said that it had found vulnerabilities in equipment supplied by Shenzhen-based Huawei, including hidden backdoors that could have provided unlawful access to the Chinese company.
In July last year, BSNL selected the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-driven consortium, including the state-owned Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT), which designed and developed core equipment indigenously.
Mumbai-based TCS and C-DoT deployed a trial network for BSNL at Ambala and Chandigarh with a 120-day deadline, which was later extended up to December 31, 2021, and later to January 2022, and a further breather was given to the Tata-backed group to fully conform to network tests.
“I feel that maybe in April, it (proof of concept or PoC completion) may be announced. I have personally visited some of the sites. Performance is good. I think there are a few more tests which have to be completed while the most critical ones are all done,” said Rajaraman.
Recently, the minister of state for communications Devusinh Chauhan said that following the next generation network demonstration, the purchase order for 4G equipment was likely to be placed by BSNL in April.
“In the last cabinet meeting, in-principle approval was given to BSNL 5G. So, it's only a matter of customer readiness, and if they are ready to switch on with the 4G PoC, the equipment is all 5G-enabled. With some tweaks, I think they will be able to move to 5G,” said Rajaraman.
Earlier, the public sector research and development firm C-DoT said that the consortium has a seamless network scalability roadmap and would plan to upgrade the BSNL network to the fifth generation or 5G non-standalone by the end of 2022, and to 5G standalone by 2023.
The government has full confidence in BSNL which is evident from the fact that the Centre has already laid out Rs 44,000 crore on the table to support the state-owned telecom service provider, said Rajaraman.
In her Budget speech on February 1, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government would infuse Rs 44,720 crore into BSNL to fund spectrum, technology upgradation and restructuring in 2022-23.
Rajaraman said the merger of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) with BSNL has already been put on hold following the deferment by the group of ministers.
Last year, the group, headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh, deferred the merger owing to the huge debt on MTNL.
In January 2021, BSNL released a detailed notice inviting e-tenders for planning, testing, deployment and annual maintenance of its much-awaited 4G network across four operational zones, in addition to Delhi and Mumbai circles, for 57,000 sites on a turnkey basis.
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