You’ve heard right, BSNL is now going to join the competition with their own 4G network. Back when 4G first started rolling out, Reliance Jio, Airtel, Idea and the like took the lead and already established a well-defined monopoly on 4G. However, BSNL was unfortunately left out in this
development. But there is great news for BSNL customers as the state-owned telecom company has announced to start rolling out their own 4G service.
Why BSNL didn’t go 4G before?
8 years ago BSNL had surrendered their 4G spectrum to the Indian Government as a result of a few incidents. However, the ceased spectrum has now been returned back to BSNL. Originally BSNL had planned to launch their 4G service at the same time as their competitors like Reliance Jio, Airtel and Idea. But during that time BSNL was heavily cash-strained and lacking good leadership. As a result, in order to obtain funds they desperately needed, BSNL has surrendered their 4G spectrum to the Indian Government in its 6 circles including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh and obtained reimbursement of around Rs 8,300
crore.
It was a much-needed sacrifice at the time for BSNL to survive but, it had come at a very high price. Since Reliance Jio 4G service was a huge success in India, BSNL’s copper wire DSL lines were almost rendered almost obsolete because of their high maintenance costs. BSN L is now back in the game, and have gained back their 4G spectrum and are now planning to initiate their 4G launch.
Now Launching ??
in September 2018, the Indian government had agreed to grant some spectrum to BSNL and the payment for which was to be made over 16 years by the company. The government had only allotted a 5MHz block in the 2100MHz band which was actually the 3G band which was also usable for launching 4G services. The 2500MHz band will be able to provide speeds of up to 60Mbps as it is based on a different 4G technology.
BSNL has already rolled out their 4G sims in some regions of Kerala. In Alappuzha district of Kerala, You can exchange your existing 3G sim for their new 4G SIM at BSNL customer service centers. This may seem like great news however VOLTE is currently unavailable as it is still in the testing phase.
With all these updates we can expect some pretty good plans from BSNL. They certainly have good competition in the 4G spectrum as they will be going against well-established players. But there is still hope as BSNL has always delivered excellent plans that are focused on delivering good quality network. With 4G BSNL will take one step further in the right direction. As the new BSNL 4G Plans are unveiled you can expect to find detailed information about them right here. So stay tuned for more Info.