BSNL 4G Gets 800K Subscriber, Total 5G Rollout in a Year

The 4G subscriber count of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state-owned telecom service provider, has reached 800,000 during the initial launch phase across North Indian regions including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and western Uttar Pradesh. This achievement follows the deployment of an indigenous network developed in collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the government’s Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), as stated by a senior official from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). 

The DoT official outlined a pragmatic roadmap for BSNL’s 4G deployment and subsequent 5G launch, stating, “We expect the core of the network to be installed in the eastern, western, and southern regions by August. The nationwide rollout is scheduled to coincide with the festival season, followed by the introduction of 5G services within the next 12 months,” requesting anonymity. 

BSNL has already set up over 3,500 4G towers and aims to achieve a full-scale commercial launch across India upon reaching 20,000 towers. Last May, Information Technology and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had announced BSNL’s target of securing 100 million 4G customers within 12 to 24 months, alongside plans to erect 100,000 towers nationwide. 

However, the rollout has faced delays due to challenges and initial issues with the domestically built network. Despite earlier plans for a 5G launch by the end of the year, this ambitious goal has been postponed to the end of the following year. 

In contrast, BSNL’s private-sector counterpart, Reliance Jio, has nearly completed its 5G network expansion in just over a year. As of February 2024, BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), another state-owned telecom company operating in New Delhi and Mumbai, collectively had 86.9 million subscribers, with less than one percent utilizing 4G services — indicating a market share of 7.95 percent. This figure represents a decline from the previous subscriber base of 90-100 million, where the company held a 9.36 percent market share with 94.1 million subscribers in February of the previous year. 

Amid concerns over the shrinking subscriber base, the BSNL Employees Union has urged the government to permit the use of Vodafone-Idea’s 4G network — in which the government holds a significant stake — to provide immediate service enhancements.