BSNL begins installing 20,000 4G towers in far-flung border states: Report

According to the government's 4G saturation strategy, the telecom operator has been tasked with ensuring coverage in all remote locations

As the government-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has started the construction of 20,000 4G towers, residents of border states in India can now look forward to increased mobile and data access according to a report by Livemint. As part of the state's 4G saturation plan, the project intends to secure access in remote locations.

According to the government's 4G saturation strategy, the telecom operator has been tasked with ensuring coverage in all remote locations, the article quoted an official familiar with the plans as saying.Under this programme, almost 25,000 villages that mostly lack any kind of connectivity will be taken into account. The official further stated that BSNL had already begun the project.

The company's own rollout of 4G services, which uses the technological stack created by India's Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT), coincides with BSNL's plan to erect these towers. 200 4G stations have already been installed in Punjab as part of the pilot phase, and commercial operations are expected to start this month.

The project was approved by the Union cabinet in July of last year, and work on it started in February 2023. The government has set aside Rs 26,316 crore from the Universal Service Obligation Fund to help pay for this enormous project. Within a 500-day timeframe,, thee project is anticipated to be completed.

A second official was also reported in the report as adding, "The government wants to make 4G available everywhere in the nation. The locations of many of these places are in states with international borders, while others have few towers in unsuitable topographical areas, suggesting that some towers may be located outside of border states yet still be included in the 4G saturation plan."

To fulfil the infrastructure requirements, BSNL has executed an advance purchase order with Tata Consultancy Services and ITI Ltd. for more than Rs 15,000 crore.The project is intended to cover 24,680 isolated settlements, according to the second official. This calls for the construction of 16,464 towers, which BSNL would oversee and maintain. Additionally, an additional 3,258 towers are needed to accommodate an additional 5,000 communities, bringing the total number of towers to over 19,700 and extending connectivity to over 29,000 villages.

While over a billion people are currently served by private telecom service providers( TSPs) like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, BSNL plays a critical role in meeting communication needs, especially in remote and difficult-to-reach areas where private operators have limited reach. More than 100 million people in these areas are served by BSNL.

The central government granted BSNL a revitalization package in 2022. The package, which cost Rs. 1.64 lakh crore, focuses on eliminating debt from the balance sheet and aiding in the development of 4G and 5G. The technology that BSNL uses is capable of being upgraded from 4G to 5G.

When major Indian telecom companies like Airtel and Jio have already begun rolling out their 5G services and have already reached more than 3000 Indian cities, Union telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has declared that BSNL will deploy its 5G services by April 2024. Recently, a partnership headed by TCS and C-DOT was shortlisted by the state-run telco to put out its 4G network. Within a year of the contract's order being made, the recently deployed BSNL 4G network is expected to be upgraded to 5G.