Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has come up with two different plans to fast-track the process for rolling out 4G in the country. The earlier 4G tenders from BSNL had to be scrapped because the government didn’t want the telco to get its network equipment/gear from foreign vendors. But an early rollout of 4G is necessary to ensure the telco’s survival amidst competition with private players that hold a majority of the market.
Two Plans Suggested by BSNL
According to a Financial Express report, BSNL has suggested two plans to the government. It is worth noting that both plans include splitting the tender into two parts. Let’s take a look at the first plan. In the first plan, as mentioned above, BSNL has recommended splitting the tender into two parts. The first part will include 50,000 sites for the Indian vendors, and the other part will include 50,000 sites for foreign vendors such as Nokia, Samsung, and Ericsson. The telco has said that Indian vendors can also join the second part of the plan if they can successfully complete the trials of their technology in time. In its second plan, BSNL has again recommended splitting the tender into two parts. The second plan will focus on the five zones of India. Out of the five zones, BSNL has recommended reserving one of the zones for Indian vendors and the other four for foreign vendors. The telco has asked the government to favour the first plan since it will allow the Indian vendors to capture a sizeable amount of the business. So far, none of the Indian vendors has provided the telco with proven technology for a network core. BSNL has communicated the same to the government. If the local firms can complete all the trials on time, BSNL could launch its 4G network in the next 10 months. But if the trials take more time than expected, the rollout time might extend.
