A fresh push to strengthen India’s public telecom network is underway as BSNL prepares to scale up its 4G infrastructure with new sites and future expansion plans.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is finalising technical specifications for an additional 22,000 4G network sites. The move follows funding support from the Centre and comes as experts stress the need for wider coverage to match private telecom operators.
“We have got 1 lakh (4G) sites that are live. We are now processing the final specs for the new 22,000-site order. But, we are also thinking that we need to go beyond that, and for that we need fund flow for which I have met with the finance minister,” Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), told sources.
Scindia added that planning work is complete but declined to share further details. BSNL has already deployed nearly 1 lakh 4G sites with a Tata Consultancy Services-led consortium that includes Tejas Networks and the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT). In May last year, BSNL placed an advance purchase order for 18,685 more sites to expand coverage and support indigenous mobile technology.
Experts say BSNL must continue adding sites to stay competitive. After India’s large-scale rollout, several countries, including the United States, showed interest in using Indian technology to replace older Chinese network equipment. Earlier, BSNL’s 4G launch faced delays. In 2020, it cancelled its first request for proposals due to alleged restrictive conditions for domestic firms.
Scindia also said that advance work orders for the remaining 4 BharatNet III packages would be awarded within the next 2 weeks. Work on 12 packages has already started, while 8 states selected their own models under the total 24 packages. BharatNet aims to connect 2.5 lakh gram panchayats and over 6 lakh villages with high-speed fibre. It is funded by Digital Bharat Nidhi, earlier called USOF. In August 2023, the Cabinet approved the Amended BharatNet Program to add 5G readiness and stronger last-mile links.
Scindia said the ministry is monitoring 4G saturation and upgrading 2G and 3G sites across 24,680 uncovered villages. The government has also proposed 9 testing labs nationwide. “We want to produce at least 10% of the global 6G patents. For that, we need to have a number of testing labs, where anyone can also do a lot of requisite experimentation,” he said. India is driving this goal through the Bharat 6G Alliance.
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