BSNL 4G to go live in next 2 weeks; 5G by December: Vaishnaw

BSNL has started rolling out of 4G network with 200 sites, and after a three-month trial, it will launch an average of 200 sites per day, Union IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

The minister said the 4G network of BSNL will be upgraded to 5G by November-December.

"The 4G-5G telecom stack we have developed in India. That stack deployment started with BSNL. Between Chandigarh and Dehradun, 200 sites installations have been done and within the next maximum of two weeks, it will go live," Vaishnaw said.

BSNL has placed an advance purchase order of over Rs 19,000 crore with Tata Consultancy Services and ITI Limited for the deployment of a 4G network, comprising more than 1.23 lakh sites.

"The speed at which BSNL will deploy, you will be surprised. After testing for three months, we will be doing 200 sites a day. That is the average at which we will go. BSNL network will work initially like 4G. Very soon, somewhere around November- December, with a very small software adjustment this will become 5G," Vaishnaw said.

He was speaking to reporters after commissioning the 2,00,000th site in Gangotri along with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

"We had set a target to have around 1.5 lakh sites by December 31, 2023. Already 2 lakh sites have been completed, I feel by December 31, it should be more than 3 lakh sites," Vaishnaw said.

He said that countries like the US have started deploying made-in-India telecom technologies.