DIMAPUR, 26 Sep: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) indigenous 4G network, commissioning more than 97,500 towers nationwide from Jharsuguda in Odisha on Saturday.
Developed by Tejas Networks, C-DOT and TCS, the cloud-based 4G network is 5G ready.
Over 18,900 4G sites have been funded under the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), which will connect around 26,700 unconnected villages in remote, border, and left-wing extremism-affected areas, serving over 2 million new subscribers. These towers are solar-powered, making them India’s largest cluster of green telecom sites and a step forward in sustainable infrastructure.
The BSNL’s 4G saturation project is a transformative step targeting rural and remote villages lacking reliable connectivity. “This is not just a project for BSNL; it is an international technological breakthrough. It places India in an exclusive club of only five countries in the world capable of building and deploying a complete mobile-network stack,” said an official release.
Under the vision, a total of 1,969 sites have been planned for installation of swadeshi 4G network in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur under the BSNL NE-II circle. Out of 1,969, 1,238 sites are planned for 4G saturation project under DBN, covering 1,729 villages (Arunachal – 982, Manipur -380, Nagaland – 421) and 731 sites (Arunachal – 289, Manipur – 255, Nagaland – 187) for upgrading existing 2G/3G towers to 4G.
As on date, 783 villages (Arunachal – 243 sites covering 503 villages; Manipur – 36 sites covering 50 villages; and Nagaland – 190 sites covering 230 villages) have been put on-air for providing 4G networks in uncovered villages.
Corporatized on 1 October 2000, the BSNL is celebrating its silver jubilee by rolling out pan-India indigenous 4G network.
