NEW DELHI: State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is gearing up for a full-fledged commercial launch of its much-awaited fourth-generation or 4G services across India. By contrast, private telecom operators Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel aim to complete a majority of their 5G services rollout this year.
BSNL has been struggling to launch its 4G network for various reasons. It was supposed to launch 4G earlier in 2023, but that timeline has been pushed further by several months.
Recently, the Centre has infused Rs 89,047 crore into BSNL as part of the third revival package, including the allotment of 4G and 5G spectrum through equity infusion.
Q: What are the latest developments regarding BSNL 4G network?
A: Recent media reports state that BSNL has issued a purchase order (PO) to Tata Consultancy Services and state-owned ITI Limited for 1 lakh 4G sites. Its private industry rivals, Jio and Airtel, had started launching their 5G services in October 2022.
The Tata Group company has proposed to supply core equipment within a year of receiving the purchase order (PO) while the supply of radio equipment is expected to be completed over a period of 18-24 months.
BSNL in May had issued an advanced purchase order or APO worth over Rs 15,000 crore to TCS and ITI. Of the total sites, 20% will be deployed by ITI.
“The consortium led by Tata Consultancy Services Limited has received an Advance Purchase Order valued over Rs 15,000 crore from BSNL for the deployment of a 4G network across India,” TCS had said in a regulatory filing.
“ITI Limited has bagged an Advance Purchase Order (APO) from BSNL worth Rs 3889 crores for its 4G rollout. BSNL has issued an Advance Purchase Order (APO) for Reservation Quota (RQ) Order in the West Zone,” ITI had said separately.
It is to be noted that a Group of Ministers (GoM) on May 8 approved the deployment of 1 lakh 4G sites for the rollout of BSNL’s 4G network by TCS and ITI.
Last year, the indigenous telecom stack setup for BSNL 4G network was tested for 10 million simultaneous phone calls. Further, the 4G equipment deployed by BSNL can be enhanced to 5G via a software upgrade.
BSNL expects a 20% increase in its revenue following wide-scale 4G rollout in the country.
Q: What are the details of BSNL’s latest revival package?
A: The third revival package for BSNL, which has an outlay of Rs 89,047 crore, also includes the allotment of 4G/5G spectrum for the telco through equity infusion. In addition to this, the authorised capital of BSNL will be increased from Rs 1,50,000 crore to Rs 2,10,000 crore.
“With this revival package, BSNL will emerge as a stable telecom service provider focused on providing connectivity to remotest parts of India,” the Ministry of Communications had said.
The 4G/5G spectrum allotment to BSNL includes airwaves in the 700MHz band, 3300MHz band, 26GHz band, and 2500MHz band.
With this spectrum allotment, the Ministry of Communications had said that BSNL will be able to pan-India 4G and 5G services; provide mobile services in rural and uncovered villages under connectivity projects provide fixed wireless access (FWA) services; and provide services/spectrum for Captive Non-Public Network (CNPN).
The Centre has also planned to infuse Rs 52,937 crore in BSNL in FY24, higher than Rs 44, 720 crore in FY23, primarily for 4G spectrum, technology upgrading and restructuring.
Q: How have prior revival packages helped BSNL?
A: The Centre had approved the first revival package for BSNL/MTNL in 2019 with an outlay of Rs 69,000 crore, which the Centre says brought stability into the two state-run telecom carriers.
In 2022, the Centre approved the second revival package for BSNL/MTNL worth Rs 1.64 lakh crore. It provided financial support for capex, viability gap funding for rural landlines, financial support for de-stressing the balance sheet, and settlement of AGR dues, merger of BBNL with BSNL, among others.
“As a result of these two packages, BSNL has started earning operating profits since FY 2021-22,” the Ministry of Communications has said.
As per the Ministry, BSNL has achieved strong growth in the home fiber segment, wherein the telco is providing more than 1 lakh new connections every month. The total home fiber subscriber base of BSNL in May 2023 was 30.88 lakh, and the total revenue from home fiber last year was Rs 2,071 crore for BSNL.
Q: What is the latest news about BSNL’s 5G partnerships with technology companies?
A: While BSNL is yet to rollout its 5G network, it has been on a partnership spree, signing up with firms such as Amantya Technologies, Echelon Edge, and most recently Larsen & Toubro Technology Services (LTTS) for the deployment of private 5G for enterprises across the country.
Under the partnership with LTTS, BSNL will provide spectrum and network infrastructure, while LTTS will provide enterprises with devices, applications, technology, software, sensors, servers, and core integration within the network infrastructure.
A: Recent media reports state that BSNL has issued a purchase order (PO) to Tata Consultancy Services and state-owned ITI Limited for 1 lakh 4G sites. Its private industry rivals, Jio and Airtel, had started launching their 5G services in October 2022.
The Tata Group company has proposed to supply core equipment within a year of receiving the purchase order (PO) while the supply of radio equipment is expected to be completed over a period of 18-24 months.
BSNL in May had issued an advanced purchase order or APO worth over Rs 15,000 crore to TCS and ITI. Of the total sites, 20% will be deployed by ITI.
“The consortium led by Tata Consultancy Services Limited has received an Advance Purchase Order valued over Rs 15,000 crore from BSNL for the deployment of a 4G network across India,” TCS had said in a regulatory filing.
“ITI Limited has bagged an Advance Purchase Order (APO) from BSNL worth Rs 3889 crores for its 4G rollout. BSNL has issued an Advance Purchase Order (APO) for Reservation Quota (RQ) Order in the West Zone,” ITI had said separately.
It is to be noted that a Group of Ministers (GoM) on May 8 approved the deployment of 1 lakh 4G sites for the rollout of BSNL’s 4G network by TCS and ITI.
Last year, the indigenous telecom stack setup for BSNL 4G network was tested for 10 million simultaneous phone calls. Further, the 4G equipment deployed by BSNL can be enhanced to 5G via a software upgrade.
BSNL expects a 20% increase in its revenue following wide-scale 4G rollout in the country.
Q: What are the details of BSNL’s latest revival package?
A: The third revival package for BSNL, which has an outlay of Rs 89,047 crore, also includes the allotment of 4G/5G spectrum for the telco through equity infusion. In addition to this, the authorised capital of BSNL will be increased from Rs 1,50,000 crore to Rs 2,10,000 crore.
“With this revival package, BSNL will emerge as a stable telecom service provider focused on providing connectivity to remotest parts of India,” the Ministry of Communications had said.
The 4G/5G spectrum allotment to BSNL includes airwaves in the 700MHz band, 3300MHz band, 26GHz band, and 2500MHz band.
With this spectrum allotment, the Ministry of Communications had said that BSNL will be able to pan-India 4G and 5G services; provide mobile services in rural and uncovered villages under connectivity projects provide fixed wireless access (FWA) services; and provide services/spectrum for Captive Non-Public Network (CNPN).
The Centre has also planned to infuse Rs 52,937 crore in BSNL in FY24, higher than Rs 44, 720 crore in FY23, primarily for 4G spectrum, technology upgrading and restructuring.
Q: How have prior revival packages helped BSNL?
A: The Centre had approved the first revival package for BSNL/MTNL in 2019 with an outlay of Rs 69,000 crore, which the Centre says brought stability into the two state-run telecom carriers.
In 2022, the Centre approved the second revival package for BSNL/MTNL worth Rs 1.64 lakh crore. It provided financial support for capex, viability gap funding for rural landlines, financial support for de-stressing the balance sheet, and settlement of AGR dues, merger of BBNL with BSNL, among others.
“As a result of these two packages, BSNL has started earning operating profits since FY 2021-22,” the Ministry of Communications has said.
As per the Ministry, BSNL has achieved strong growth in the home fiber segment, wherein the telco is providing more than 1 lakh new connections every month. The total home fiber subscriber base of BSNL in May 2023 was 30.88 lakh, and the total revenue from home fiber last year was Rs 2,071 crore for BSNL.
Q: What is the latest news about BSNL’s 5G partnerships with technology companies?
A: While BSNL is yet to rollout its 5G network, it has been on a partnership spree, signing up with firms such as Amantya Technologies, Echelon Edge, and most recently Larsen & Toubro Technology Services (LTTS) for the deployment of private 5G for enterprises across the country.
Under the partnership with LTTS, BSNL will provide spectrum and network infrastructure, while LTTS will provide enterprises with devices, applications, technology, software, sensors, servers, and core integration within the network infrastructure.
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