The Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said that the much-awaited 4G commercial services launch by state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is expected in Q2 of fiscal 2022-23 with a purchase order for network equipment procurement likely to be placed by April.
The minister added that the Proof-Of-Concept (PoC) is currently ongoing which is expected to be completed by 31st January 2022. “The commercial rollout of 4G services of BSNL is expected to start from August- September 2022,” Chauhan said, adding that the purchase order is expected to be placed by BSNL in April, 2022.
In April 2015, the then BSNL chairman Anupam Shrivastava, in a letter to the telecom department (DoT) sought 2500 MHz frequency band to launch 4G services. Last year, BSNL allowed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-backed consortium to test the network within a 120-day timeframe which was later extended, following the delay in supply of specified power-backed radio equipment.
Tata group company and state-driven research and development (R&D) organisation Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT), which emerged as a dominant consortium, are currently undertaking a PoC in Ambala and Chandigarh for network testing and demonstration purposes.
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