New Delhi: The Centre has sanctioned revival support worth about Rs 3.22 lakh crore for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) through three separate packages aimed at strengthening the state-owned telecom operator and enhancing its competitiveness.
The details were shared by Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, in a written response in the Lok Sabha.
According to the minister, the assistance includes measures such as capital infusion, restructuring of existing debt, support to maintain telecom services in rural regions, and allocation of spectrum to enable next-generation mobile services. These initiatives are intended to stabilise BSNL’s financial position while enabling the company to modernise its network and service capabilities.
As part of the government’s support framework, BSNL has been provided spectrum in several bands – including 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2500 MHz and 3300 MHz – through administrative allocation based on auction-linked pricing.
The spectrum will be used to expand 4G coverage and facilitate the eventual rollout of 5G services.
The government noted that the revival measures have already begun showing results, with the public sector telecom company reporting operating profits since the financial year 2020-21. Network capacity has also grown significantly over the past decade, with BSNL adding thousands of base stations across multiple generations of technology.
Since 2014, the telecom operator has installed 13,748 2G base transceiver stations, 39,722 3G NodeB units and over 1.03 lakh 4G eNodeB stations. In addition, BSNL is implementing a nationwide rollout of one lakh indigenously developed 4G sites.
As of 28 February, a total of 97,906 sites had been installed, of which 96,103 were already operational.
Alongside the telecom revival effort, the government is also expanding rural digital infrastructure through the amended BharatNet Programme, approved by the Union Cabinet in August 2023 with an outlay of Rs 1.39 lakh crore.
The initiative aims to provide optical fibre connectivity to all Gram Panchayats and villages on a demand basis and enable around 1.5 crore high-speed fibre-to-the-home broadband connections in rural areas.
BSNL has been designated as the project management agency for the scheme.
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