NEW DELHI : State-run telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) plans to launch commercial 4G services in two cities of Punjab by the month-end, becoming the fourth telecom operator to roll out 4G services in India.
A senior official aware of its plans said the services will be launched in Amritsar and Ferozepur, which are among the high-revenue earning areas in the Punjab circle. The services and 4G SIM sales will start in these cities soon after the official launch within 7-10 days.
“Once 4G services begin in the two cities, it will be gradually rolled out to other cities in Punjab, which is among high revenue-generating circles. Service in other high revenue generating circles will follow,” he added seeking anonymity.
The public sector company had set up a 4G network in the border state three months ago as a pilot to test the equipment and base stations, and testing its indigenously-developed 4G stack, including the nodes and radio access network.
Communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently said that indigenous telecom stack setup for BSNL’s 4G network had undergone rigorous testing last year, and managed to successfully handle up to 10 million simultaneous calls.
BSNL had made an advance purchase order for 4G equipment worth ₹15,000 crore to a TCS-C-DOT-led consortium, as well as to ITI for a 100,000 4G sites, which will help it proceed with its 4G rollout plans over the next 18 months.
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