A total of 29 companies, including prominent names like L&T Technology, TCS, Tejas Networks, VVDN, Lekha Wireless, and HFCL, attended the pre-bid meeting for BSNL’s 5G tender in Delhi. However, only three companies—Tejas Networks, Lekha Wireless, and Galore Network—submitted bids to deploy indigenous 5G services in standalone (SA) architecture across 1,876 sites in the region. The lukewarm response from larger firms is attributed to the tender’s terms, which require selected bidders to shoulder the capital expenditure (CapEx) and operating expenses (OpEx). This marks a departure from BSNL’s 4G tender model, where the telecom operator directly paid the selected vendors for services.
Under the 5G tender, BSNL has adopted a revenue-sharing mechanism, mandating bidders to share at least 70% of revenues after service rollout. According to industry executives, this requirement, coupled with the substantial CapEx of over ₹500 crore needed for deploying core networks and radio solutions, has deterred bigger players. “We have the product and technology in place but need backing from investors to incur the CapEx,” said Ramu T Srinivasiah, founder and director of Lekha Wireless, which is bidding to supply radios for BSNL’s 5G services in Delhi.
BSNL plans to use the 900 MHz and 3300 MHz bands to provide 5G SA services. The initial rollout will cater to 100,000 registered subscribers, alongside the simultaneous launch of fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband services. According to Rakesh Bhatnagar, director general of VOICE, which represents domestic telecom solution providers, this will be the world’s first implementation of a revenue-share model, where bidders will handle R&D design, equipment supply, and service provisioning. Bhatnagar also emphasized that this initiative could pave the way for India to produce domestic telecom export players to serve developing nations, challenging the global dominance of equipment giants like Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE, and Samsung.
The contract between BSNL and the selected service providers will span seven years, extendable by three or more years based on mutual agreement. BSNL aims to partner with two service providers in Delhi: a primary 5G-as-a-service provider to deploy a 5G SA core and a 5G-RAN (Radio Access Network) using up to two original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and a secondary provider responsible for deploying additional 5G-RAN equipment from up to two OEMs. This project represents BSNL’s ambitious step toward leveraging indigenous 5G technology to enhance connectivity and competitiveness in the telecom sector.
