BSNL dials PMO; seeks to split 4G tender into two parts: Report

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has informed the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that it intends to float a fresh notice inviting tender for 50,000 4G sites and split 4G rollout into two parts– Part A comprising 57,000 sites that will be reserved for Indian companies, while Part B– comprising 50,000 sites will be an open tender with commercial terms and conditions, as per a Financial Express report.

The Empowered Technology Group (ETG), headed by Principal Scientific Advisor K. VijayRaghavan approved the plan in late March, which will now allow multinational vendors like Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung to deploy the 4G network for the telco’s commercial services.

Chinese vendors like Huawei and ZTE, however, have been debarred from participating in the bidding process following the inclusion of a clause which says that countries having shared borders with India would not be allowed to participate, in line with the Centre’s policy stand taken in the wake of Indo-China standoff last year, ET previously reported.

The empowered group also recommended that the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) should procure radio and core equipment for 57,000 4G sites (including 7,000 MTNL sites) from Indian companies, and in parallel should procure 50,000 4G RAN/core equipment from trusted sources having previous experience of such supplies.

Earlier, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) gave its nod to split the tender for the rollout of the 4G services into two parts as BSNL was facing delays owing to the slow pace of trials by the Indian companies.

BSNL says that its survival depends on the launch of 4G services, and expects 4G rollout within 10 months of successful completion of trials by local companies, and if the Proof of Concept (PoC) gets completed within four months, the network could be rolled out after 14 months from the said date.

Otherwise, the telco believes the specified rollout timelines would also get extended.