BSNL gets govt approval for Rs 26,821 crore order to TCS for 4G equipment

NEW DELHI: State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Thursday received the government’s approval for a Rs 26,821 crore order to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for 4G equipment. The matter will now be placed before the Group of Ministers (GoM) for final approval.

Following the deal, the IT services provider will set up BSNL’s 4G sites and maintain its network for nine years. As per reports, the telecom operator is soon to give a purchase order to TCS for its 100,000 sites. While private telecom operators are updating their network to 5G, BSNL is still using 2G and 3G networks.

For the past two years, the telco has been trying to zero down on the vendor to roll out its 4G services for its 111 million wireless users. Other than TCS, HFCL (partners Pertsol and Mavenir), L&T (partners Pertsol and Mavenir), Tech Mahindra (partners Pertsol and Sterlite) have also shown interest in the contract. 

However, these companies have failed to submit proof of concept (PoC).  Following the deal, BSNL is likely to start its 4G services by early next year and it will deploy 5G network simultaneously. A unit of Tata Sons, Tejas Networks, will manufacture the network radio equipment for BSNL. The telco recently received a whopping Rs 1.64 lakh crore bailout package from the government.

BSNL likely to start 4G services by early next year
Following the deal, BSNL is expected to start its 4G services by early next year and it will deploy 5G network simultaneously. A unit of Tata Sons, Tejas Networks, will manufacture the network radio equipment for BSNL. The telco recently received a whopping Rs 1.64 lakh crore bailout package from the government