India’s state-owned telecommunications company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), has introduced a local 4G in Kolkata, according to local press reports.
The report states that the telecommunications company intends to offer 4G installations in the state of West Bengal in the coming months. Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal and the main financial and advertising center of eastern and northeastern India.
The state-owned telecom operator has been conducting trials in Punjab to test the functions of the 4G generation developed in India. The telecommunications company first introduced 4G installations in the northern Indian regions of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and western Uttar. In Pradesh, local network generation evolved in collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the Government Centre for Telematics Development (C-POINT). The state-owned telecommunications company obtained 4G and 5G frequencies from the government as part of a contingency plan.
BSNL recently announced that it had reached 800,000 4G subscribers in its launch phase in those early regions. The telecom operator noted that its initial 3,500 sites featured 4G installations either as an advertisement or as a test.
A BSNL executive recently indicated that full advertising could be introduced once the telecommunications company’s 4G network reaches 20,000 active base stations nationwide. BSNL has said in the past that it plans to deliver 4G nationwide by deploying 100,000 base stations.
BSNL accounts for a 20% share of the country’s overall cellular market through the end of 2024 thanks to the acceleration of the rollout of its 4G network, according to recent news reports. In recent years, BSNL has lost a market share to rival telecommunications corporations Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel due to the lack of an extensive nationwide 4G policy.
Workers’ union BSNL recently suggested the government use rival operator Vodafone Idea’s network to offer 4G service in the country first. The Indian government is the largest shareholder in Vodafone Idea Limited, with a 33. 1% stake. The British organization Vodafone and the Indian organization Aditya Birla jointly own 50. 4% of Vodafone Idea.
According to reports, the potential use of Vodafone Idea’s 4G network will be a transitional measure until BSNL’s 4G network becomes commercially available.
Recent reports have also highlighted that the state-owned operator intends to launch 5G installations in the next 12 months. Reliance Jio Infocomm has now completed the rollout of the 5G generation in India. The operator has been expanding its 5G network using independent architecture (SA) since October 2022. Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has said in the past that it is on track to cover the entire country with 5G generation by March 2024.