Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has not yet received 4G spectrum
from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The telecom department
had reserved a certain quantum of spectrum for BSNL/MTNL (Mahanagar
Telephone Nigam Limited) for offering 4G services in India. DoT said
that BSNL/MTNL would receive the 4G airwaves “after completion of
necessary formalities in accordance with the Cabinet approval in this
regard”.
Further, DoT said that assignment/re-assignment of the spectrum in
the 900/1800 MHz band is under consideration in the department. DoT has
released the report on access spectrum holdings of TSPs as of July 8,
2022.
BSNL to Start 4G Services on August 15, 2022
Many officials of the company have said that BSNL
will do a soft launch of 4G network services on August 15, 2022. But
how will this be possible with the 4G spectrum is something to wonder.
Maybe the telco has enough airwaves, for now, to offer 4G at a small
scale in certain parts of India. But then BSNL wants to expand with 4G
by the end of this year. This wouldn’t be possible, however, if the
telco doesn’t get 4G airwaves.
Further, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is still working on
finetuning the technical parameters of BSNL’s 4G. The deadline for this
is July 30, 2022. Things don’t really look like they are happening in a
timely manner. However, we are still more than a month away from BSNL’s
homegrown 4G launch.
The state-run telco is already offering 4G
services in select parts of the country. Kerala is expected to receive
4G networks of BSNL by the end of this year, as well as Pune.
BSNL can’t delay its 4G plans further. There were also talks about
the cost issues that BSNL and TCS are going through. BSNL is offering
TCS a negligible amount for upgrading 6000 sites to 4G, which the Tata
Group company is not happy about.
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