BSNL has put in 90,000 4G towers, with 76,000 already commissioned
In sum – what you might want to know:
BSNL to launch 5G after 4G stabilizes – India’s state-run BSNL will solely change to 5G as soon as its 4G community, now nearing 100,000 towers, meets high quality benchmarks.
No international tech in BSNL’s 5G plan – Telecom Minister Scindia confirmed that solely indigenous expertise will probably be utilized in BSNL’s 5G rollout.
100,000 customers in section one – BSNL’s 5G rollout will initially goal 100,000 subscribers, specializing in 5G Standalone providers and Fastened Wi-fi Entry.
India’s state-run telecom operator BSNL is getting ready for a nationwide 5G rollout after reaching a stabilization of its ongoing 4G deployment, native press reported, citing the nation’s Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, as saying.
Scindia confirmed that BSNL will change to 5G expertise solely after its 4G community is totally stabilized and meets service high quality requirements. “As soon as the 100,000 towers will probably be put up and the community is stabilized, as soon as we see that the QoS is on top of things, after which we begin switching. Transferring from 4G to 5G just isn’t that troublesome,” he mentioned.
As of now, BSNL put in 90,000 4G towers, with 76,000 already commissioned. The goal is to achieve 100,000 towers by July 2025.
Additionally, the Indian authorities has dominated out international participation in BSNL’s 5G deployment. “We have now developed our personal core and RAN. Why ought to we forgo our indigenous expertise for international gamers?” Scindia mentioned. He added that India now belongs to a choose group of nations with homegrown 4G/5G capabilities and goals to compete globally with its telecom options.
Earlier this 12 months, BSNL had obtained curiosity from three firms for deploying its 5G Standalone (SA) community in Delhi, protecting 1,876 websites throughout the nationwide capital.
Whereas 29 firms participated within the pre-bid assembly for BSNL’s 5G tender, solely three have moved ahead within the course of — Tejas Networks, Lekha Wi-fi and Galore Community. Tejas Networks, already engaged in BSNL’s 4G rollout, is offering the telco with an indigenous 4G stack, which may be upgraded to 5G.
BSNL first introduced the tender in November 2024 to kickstart 5G operations in Delhi. The telco beforehand mentioned it goals to work with two separate service suppliers—as major and secondary 5G as-a-service (5GaaS) suppliers. The first supplier will deploy one 5G SA core community and a 5G-RAN (Radio Entry Community) utilizing {hardware} from as much as two authentic tools producers (OEMs). Equally, the secondary supplier will set up 5G-RAN tools from a most of two OEMs, in keeping with earlier studies.
The chosen bidders will probably be answerable for the planning, design, tools provide, deployment, and ongoing administration of the 5G community inside the licensed service space (LSA).
To ship 5G SA providers, BSNL will make the most of the 900 MHz and three.3 GHz spectrum bands. Initially, the rollout will goal 100,000 subscribers, with plans to introduce 5G Fastened Wi-fi Entry (FWA) providers. The telco has already examined its 5G indigenous expertise at three places in New Delhi — Nehru Place, Chanakyapuri and Minto Highway.
The 5G trials, carried out in collaboration with the Middle for Improvement of Telematics (C-DOT) and native producers, demonstrated the profitable use of domestically sourced tools and options.
Throughout a presentation to journalists at Cell World Congress (MWC) 2025, Scindia highlighted India’s fast 5G deployment in addition to the success of its indigenous 4G expertise stack, now set for export. Scindia emphasised that India has achieved vital progress in deploying 5G networks at an unprecedented tempo.
5G providers have been launched throughout all states and union territories in India by October 2024, in keeping with the Financial Survey 2025, not too long ago launched by the Indian authorities.
At present, 5G connectivity is out there in 779 out of 783 districts, supported by the deployment of over 460,000 5G base transceiver stations (BTSs) throughout the nation. Indian telecom operators, together with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, have been actively increasing their 5G networks since October 2022.
Scindia famous that 5G infra presently covers 99% of districts throughout the nation whereas the inhabitants protection reaches 82%
