The central government has given a go-ahead to the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s (BSNL) Rs 26,821-crore deal with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to roll out 4G services in India, according to a report by the Economic Times (ET). The report stated that TCS will soon be given the order to purchase 100,000 sites for the state-run telco. The IT services provider will set up the 4G lines and maintain the network for the next nine years.
In October, TCS said it would be providing the core equipment within 12 months of the order. Radio equipment would be provided within 24 months of receiving the order. According to the report, Tata Sons' unit Tejas Network will manufacture the equipment locally for BSNL.
With this deal, BSNL aims to launch 4G services by December 2022 or January 2023.
The development comes after the Centre gave the telco a Rs 1.64 lakh crore bailout package to cover the 4G launch, operations funding and capital expenses. With BSNL’s 4G launch, India will join the likes of the USA, Sweden, South Korea, and China in developing telecom network technology.
In 2020, BSNL was forced to cancel a 4G tender due to restrictive conditions for domestic firms. Later the company was ordered to only utilise equipment from domestic companies. The ET report said that the government in the last few years has been pushing for self-reliance in the telecommunications sector due to national security concerns.
The government had also received bids from HFCL, L&T, and Tech Mahindra.
After the 4G services, BSNL is also aiming to launch 5G services by August 2023, according to the report. With the launch of 4G and 5G, BSNL aims to reduce customer attrition. Currently, Sweden's Ericsson, Finland's Nokia, China's Huawei, and South Korea's Samsung are dominating the telecom network market globally.