BSNL to float tender for 3–4 lakh new towers, roll out low-cost plans to woo private telco users

The expansion will be funded through a mix of internal accruals, asset monetisation, and government support.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will soon float a tender for 3–4 lakh new 4G sites, restricted to Indian technology vendors, as part of its revival strategy and push to become a strong third player in India’s telecom market.

At the same time, the state-run operator is betting on affordability, introducing lower tariffs to attract customers left out by private carriers that have withdrawn entry-level packs, Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar told Moneycontrol. To tackle SIM accessibility, BSNL is also piloting doorstep SIM delivery through India Post.

“Any additional towers have to go through a systematic tendering process… BSNL’s goal is to continue to deploy indigenous technology,” he said, adding that the additional towers will eventually help the telco to upgrade to 5G technology.

A consortium led by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and C-DoT has been deploying the indigenous 4G network across India. Tejas Networks, a subsidiary of the Tata Group, is a part of the consortium and has been supplying and servicing the radio access network (RAN) equipment.

Interestingly, the TCS-C-DoT consortium earlier this year decided not to participate in the state-run telecom company's tender for 5G services in the Delhi-NCR region. While 29 companies participated in the pre-bid meeting for BSNL’s 5G tender, only three have moved forward in the process — Tejas Networks, Lekha Wireless and Galore Network. Tejas Networks, already engaged in BSNL’s 4G rollout, is providing the telco with an indigenous 4G stack, which can be upgraded to 5G.

Rs 47,000 crore capex push
The government has already announced another Rs 47,000 crore capex for BSNL to help it roll out the 4G network with more tower additions. So far, the company has installed 100,000 4G towers using indigenous telecom software and hardware to provide the services. The expansion will be funded through a mix of internal accruals, asset monetisation, and government support. BSNL currently runs around 1.2 lakh towers—well behind the 4–5 lakh sites of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel—and will need three to four lakh more to compete effectively.

The minister said services on 85-90% of the towers are working well. BSNL, he said, will be a very effective third player with its efforts around additional tower deployment and better quality of service. "Whenever there is large capital expenditure, most markets around the world sustain only two or three major players. That’s because investing lakhs of crores is not easy. At the same time, such concentration should not create a price barrier for economically weaker sections. That is where BSNL plays a fundamental role. Vodafone Idea is also present, but the one under our control is BSNL. This is why, over the years, Prime Minister Modi has provided multiple revival packages for BSNL," he said.

BSNL could have been an effective third player much earlier if it had relied on imported technology from companies like Ericsson, Nokia, or Samsung. "Instead, as part of the self-reliance vision, we chose to develop our own technology. The geopolitical tensions you see today only underline the importance of that decision. The indigenous technology BSNL is deploying was planned two to three years ago, and now it has matured and is ready for large-scale rollout," he explained.

Affordability as a differentiator
BSNL will not follow rivals in hiking tariffs, Sekhar said, but will instead focus on affordability. “Government is seriously considering [affordability] — that is the reason we are continuously working on improving BSNL connectivity. BSNL still has the lowest plans at this time, and we will continue to adapt. If there are any issues, then we will introduce even lower plans,” he said.

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, India’s top two telecom service providers by subscribers, have withdrawn their entry-level 1 gigabyte (GB)-per-day plans for new customers, effectively raising minimum tariffs. Industry executives and analysts said the recalibration could set the stage for fresh tariff hikes, with some expecting increases of up to 15 percent this year.

The minister added that the withdrawal of entry-level packs by private telcos could turn into an opportunity for BSNL to expand its user base. “Private players also have invested heavily in 5G. So it's up to their business model. But the government will continue to provide options for inclusivity by BSNL.”

Expanding reach: SIM distribution via India Post & eSIM rollout

To tackle SIM accessibility, BSNL is piloting doorstep SIM delivery through India Post in Tamil Nadu and testing eSIM services for a nationwide rollout. “Yes, SIM accessibility is an issue. We are working on it… we are planning to launch eSIM, which is being tested in Tamil Nadu. Once done, we will roll out nationwide,” he said. "We are also planning on deploying our huge postal network to be our SIM sellers… logistics can be taken, home delivery of SIMs and everything can be done.”

BSNL’s immediate goal is scaling up both 4G and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections. “Even in FTTH, we have targets. We want to make sure connections increase nationwide,” Sekhar said, noting that fixed-line losses have been caused by service quality gaps such as cable cuts. “Those SLAs have been revised; time to recovery is less than four hours. Once metrics improve and with effective marketing, we will grow FTTH again.”

BSNL is tightening operational efficiency and setting targets for each circle to drive revenue and customer acquisition, the minister said. “We are linking targets in such a way that the repair teams are paid based on the uptime of the BTS… we are giving revenue targets for all our BSNL circle heads, with at least 20–30% growth in every circle, monitored every month by me and every three months by our honourable cabinet minister, Scindia."

The telco is also testing ways to reduce its dependence on physical sites. “We are working on technology that allows Wi-Fi spots to act as calling points through voice over data. That will reduce our capex requirement as we won’t need as many physical towers,” Sekhar said.