New Delhi: Tata Group’s telecom equipment arm, Tejas Networks, has completed the delivery of telecom gear to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for setting up one lakh sites under a major 4G and 5G rollout initiative.
The milestone comes less than a year after the company was awarded a Rs 7,492 crore contract in August 2023, as part of a consortium led by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT).
“We shipped more than 100,000 sites for the BSNL 4G/5G network. This is one of the largest single-vendor RAN networks globally, delivered in record time,” said Tejas Networks CEO and MD Anand Athreya during the company’s latest earnings call. He credited the achievement to the collective efforts of Tejas, TCS, C-DoT, and BSNL.
BSNL’s long-delayed 4G services are expected to launch by June, nearly nine years after private telecom companies introduced the technology in India. The public sector telco plans to transition to 5G services once its 4G infrastructure stabilises.
Despite reporting a consolidated loss of around Rs 72 crore in the March quarter, Tejas Networks saw a 44% year-on-year surge in quarterly revenue to Rs 1,907 crore. For the full financial year ending March this year, the company posted a significant jump in profit to Rs 446.53 crore, with revenue soaring over threefold to Rs 8,923 crore.
To bolster its technology capabilities, Tejas signed a partnership agreement with Japan’s NEC Corporation during the quarter. The collaboration will focus on developing advanced wireless and radio access technologies, core networks, and a joint go-to-market approach.
The company is also making inroads with private telecom players. It recently completed the first phase of a three-year telecom gear supply contract with Vodafone Idea (VIL), signed in December.
Tejas COO Arnob Roy confirmed that the initial shipment and project execution for VIL have been completed. He added that the company is in advanced discussions with BSNL for a follow-up deal and is also eyeing participation in the Rail Kavach train security project.
