BSNL to launch 4G services across India in August; to use indigenous technology

State-owned BSNL will start rolling out 4G services across the country from August, using completely indigenous technology in line with the government's "Atmanirbhar" policy, according to official sources.

BSNL officials claimed to have recorded peak speed of 40-45 megabit per second on the 4G network which has been rolled out in the premium spectrum band of 700 megahertz (Mhz) as well as in 2,100 Mhz band during the pilot phase.

The company has rolled out 4G services in Punjab using indigenously developed technology by IT company TCS and state-run telecom research organisation C-DoT-led consortium and onboarded around 8 lakh subscribers.

"The 4G core developed by C-DoT is performing very well in the BSNL network in Punjab. It was installed in July last year. It takes 12 month to prove the success of such complex technology but the C-DoT core has stabilised within 10 months. BSNL will launch atmanirbhar 4G technology across the country in August," a senior government official, who did not wish to be named, told PTI.

The core network is a collection of network hardware, devices, and software that provides fundamental services in a telecommunication network. Telecom regulator Trai in a recent paper explained core as part of a network that offers the functionality of aggregation, call control, switching, authentication, charging, gateway functionality, etc.

TCS, Tejas Networks and government-owned ITI have bagged orders worth about Rs 19,000 crore from BSNL for deploying 4G network which is upgradable to 5G.

In a recent earnings call, Tejas Networks Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Arnob Roy said BSNL's mobile network is getting deployed across zones.

He said that wherever the C-DOT core is not available on the BSNL network, the equipment is getting integrated to the existing core.

"When the C-DOT core gets deployed in those circles, in those zones, they will get parented to the C-DOT core as well. Tejas Networks Limited. This is just a temporary situation where the RAN (radio access network) is deployed and in that zone, the core is not available," Roy said.

BSNL is in the process of deploying 1.12 lakh towers for 4G and 5G services across India.

"The company has installed over 9,000 towers for 4G service across the country, out of which more than 6,000 are active in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, UP West and Haryana circle. BSNL has been selling 4G capable SIM only for the last 4-5 years. Only those customers who have older SIM will need to get new SIM to experience the service," a BSNL official said.