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The state-run telecom provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced that it has achieved a significant milestone of 41,000 4G sites. This follows the telecom minister's declaration a few weeks ago that the company had deployed and commissioned 39,000 4G sites. Last week, the company reached the milestone of 40,000 sites. By the conclusion of the current fiscal year or the middle of 2025, BSNL will have one lakh 4G sites operational thanks to the rate at which the sites are being installed and put into service.
Tejas Networks provides BSNL with its radio access network (RAN) equipment, while the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) supplies the core. The 41000 sites from BSNL are present in both urban and rural portions of the country.
BSNL 4G/5G
The cheapest 4G plans in the nation right now are offered by BSNL. The only issue is that not all places have 4G networks. Some cities have BSNL 4G, but if you're travelling or moving around, the coverage isn't very smooth. The telco intends to upgrade to 5G soon and hopes to fix this issue as soon as possible.
It is anticipated that BSNL will introduce its 5G network by 2025. Although many people think that the telco should concentrate more on 4G, there is little doubt that 5G would make it easier to compete with private telcos. By providing cheaper rates, BSNL has been able to attract the clients of commercial telecoms thus far. The telco must now make sure that these consumers don't switch back to private telecom providers, which can only be accomplished with a swift 4G deployment. The only telecom provider to add new customers in the first two months of the September 2024 quarter is BSNL.
With 2.5 million new subscribers, BSNL, which chose not to raise rates, was the only telecom provider to see an increase in subscribers.
India's top mobile network providers have been significantly impacted by the recent spike in telecom rates; in August, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi) saw large subscriber losses. According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), these private telecom behemoths have seen a continuous drop in consumers since July, when pricing for a variety of plans increased by 11-25%.