BSNL to install 1.12 lakh towers for rolling out 4G across India

The indigenous 4G telecom network will soon be rolled out across India with the BSNL planning to install about 1.12 lakh towers throughout the country, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The minister also said the internet connection inside trains can be available only when the 5G network will be rolled out as communications get disrupted with 4G technology in trains running with the speed of 100 km per hour.

"I am happy to inform you that the 4G telecom network is ready for roll out soon and it is developed in India by Indian engineers and scientists. Our development of 4G network is being appreciated worldwide and it has a core network, radio network with full telecom equipment," he said during Question Hour.

The minister said the BSNL is in the process of ordering 6,000 towers immediately and then 6,000 more and finally 1 lakh to be installed all over the country for the 4G network.

He said the development of 5G technology is going on in parallel and will be ready in a few months.

Asked about the availability of 4G internet service in trains, he said if a train is running more than 100 km speed, we need a 5G network.

There is disruption in the 4G network. But this is a time of technological evaluation and as the 5G is getting ready, 5G will also be available, he said.

Vaishnaw said the Telecom Service Providers fiberise their Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) installed on mobile towers and 7,93,551 BTSs have been connected by optical fibre in the country as on February 1, 2022.

He said the BTS used to provide mobile communications belong to the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and the decisions to connect them through fibre or other means including microwave is taken by TSPs based on various techno-commercial considerations including network capacity required at that particular location.

The major obstacle in fiberisation of Telecom Towers, as reported by TSPs, are high charges, complex process and delay involved in getting Right of Way (ROW) permissions due to non-alignment of ROW Policy of States with Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 notified by the central government, he said.