BSNL 4G rollout likely to get delayed

The rollout of BSNL’s 4G services is likely to be delayed further as the company has extended the trials by two months. Earlier, the trials were expected to be over by October 31, 2021. Since BSNL expects a 4G rollout within 10 months on successful completion of trials, this means that the rollout is expected only by the end of next year.

“Considering the representation received from PoC (proof of concept) vendors…the PoC timeline has been extended till December 31, 2021, as a one-time measure for completion of PoC and no further extension will be granted by BSNL,” the company said in a letter to the vendors.

As is known, BSNL has been mandated by the government to utilize ‘domestic core or Indian core’ in its network for expanding 4G services. Accordingly, BSNL floated a tender for procurement of 50,000 sites with local core and a letter of intent has already been issued to five vendors including TCS, Tech Mahindra, HFCL, L&T and ITI.