Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will not wait very long to switch to 5G after launching 4G services. For 5G NSA, a 4G core is required, and BSNL might just be looking at that only. Pravin Kumar Purwar, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of BSNL, said that the telco’s 4G service would be launched in August 2022 on a short scale. But by the end of the year, BSNL would have expanded its 4G networks to multiple parts of the country. The problem with BSNL so far has been that the telco isn’t very competitive in conducting business. While the other telecom operators are shifting to 5G, BSNL is still selling 2G and 3G services. This is something that the CMD of the state-run telecom company understands.
BSNL Ordered 6400 Towers for 4G
BSNL has received the spectrum for providing 4G services from the government, and the telco has also ordered 6400 towers for launching 4G. According to a report from the NewIndiaExpress, BSNL will order another 6000 towers in the next 15 to 20 days. By the end of 2022, BSNL would have set up 1.5 lakh 4G sites across the nation, said Purwar. After rolling out 4G, BSNL will get on with the process of rolling out 5G. As per some old developments, we could see BSNL’s 5G as early as 2023. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had also instructed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to reserve some 5G spectrum for BSNL as well. If things stay on track for BSNL, its 4G launch should happen at a wide scale by the end of this year, and the 5G launch could come by 2023. This would be a great boost to the telecom sector of India as well and increase the competition in the market, which will benefit the customers only. BSNL has already confirmed that Pune and Kerala will get 4G networks by the end of this year.
