GoM okays TCS-led deployment of one lakh BSNL 4G sites

New Delhi: The Group of Ministers (GoM) has on Monday approved the deployment of 1 lakh sites for the rollout of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)’s fourth generation (4G) network by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-led consortium.
“The GoM has today cleared the BSNL 4G deployment by the TCS-led consortium, sources familiar with the development told ETTelecom.

In February, the BSNL Board recommended the deployment of 1 lakh network sites for the ambitious 4G commercial service launch by the state-owned telecom carrier.

Separately, the state-run carrier’s top official confirmed the development.

“GoM has approved the proposal for 1 lakh sites that includes network deployment by ITI under the reservation. BSNL is expected to place the purchase order (PO) in the next seven days,” BSNL chairman PK Purwar told ETTelecom

Mumbai-based TCS, a part of Tata group, will supply 4G equipment for 100,000 sites for a total sum of close to Rs 24500 crore that includes network gear for about Rs 13,000 crores, as well as third-party items and a 10-year annual maintenance contract (AMC).

Last month, telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that BSNL already started deploying 200 towers based on India's telecom stack, as a part of field trials.

Further Vaishnaw said that around August, a rapid rollout of next-generation-based telecom sites has already been planned, and added that the ongoing live testing is based on real customers in a physical environment.

“The 4G equipment deployed by BSNL will be quickly enhanced to 5G, requiring a software upgrade,” the minister earlier said.

In November last year, Mumbai-based TCS and state-run ITI Limited submitted their bids to deploy the BSNL’s next-generation network across four zones countrywide, following the proof of concept (PoC).

ITI has a 20% reservation in network procurement, although the company proposed to use equipment supplied by the TCS-led consortium that includes core network gear from the government-owned Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT).

The Tata Group company had proposed to supply core equipment within a year of receiving the purchase order (PO) while the supply of radio equipment is expected to be completed over a period of 18-24 months.

Last year, the indigenous telecom stack setup for BSNL 4G network was tested for 10 million simultaneous phone calls.

The state-controlled telco expects a 20% growth in revenues following the mass availability of 4G-led data services.