BSNL To Roll Out 5G Services By June 2025: Telecom Minister

Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has reportedly said that the state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will roll out the 5G network by June next year.

As per PTI, Scindia added that BSNL will complete the rollout of the indigenously-developed 4G network through 1 Lakh base stations. Thereafter, the telco will switch to the 5G network, he added. 

“We are going to roll out our own 4G network, which is going to switch to 5G by June of 2025. We will be the sixth country in the world to be able to do that,” Scindia reportedly said.

Speaking at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, the Minister said that the 4G will be rolled out on the indigenously-developed network, adding that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has made it clear that BSNL will not use “anyone else’s equipment”. 

It is pertinent to note that the state-run telecom company is using 4G technology developed by a consortium of state-run Centre For Development Of Telematics (CDoT) and IT services major TCS. 

Scindia also said that BSNL already has a functional core and a radio access network in place, adding that the telecom operator has already operationalised 38,300 sites as of October 13. As mentioned above, the Centre will look to roll out 1 Lakh such sites by April-May next year.

Talking about India-US strategic ties, Scindia added that the two countries have “come to an agreement” whereby India will supply chips to US-based defence companies. 

This comes at a time when Indian telecom companies have aggressively rolled out 5G services across the country. The Minister claimed that India has had the fastest 5G rollout in the world with installation of 4.5 Lakh towers in 22 months, covering 80% of the country’s population.

The comments came on the same day as Scindia said that the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) systems must be guided by ethical considerations and robust regulatory framework. Noting that governance of AI should not be an ‘afterthought’, He added that issues such as privacy concern and bias must be addressed to ensure positive impact of the emerging technology.

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