BSNL launches first 4G services in Visakhapatnam

On 29 August, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state owned company, for the first time launched 4G services in Visakhapatnam. BSNL upgraded its network from 3G to 4G for the first time in the city. The services, which was launched Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, covers the administrative area of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam ltd (RINL), residential quarters and the plant area.

Principal GM of Visakhapatnam Telecom District, Paul William, announced that the Centre has allocated an indigenous 4G mobile stack, which will be upgraded to 5G under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. This project will be government-funded.

The equipment stack for this, was made by the technology made by the collection of homegrown indigenously companies led by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the state-run Telecom research organisation for C-DoT, and TEJAS.

According to RINL, CMD Athul Bhatt, the previous 3G services equipment will be shut down in Visakhapatnam after being replaced by 4G services.

Last week, BSNL set up 25,000 4G towers all over the country and even started dispatching 4G SIMs to users. While private providers like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea Limited are offering 5G services. Previously, BNSL was losing its subscribers to the private operators. In last fiscal year, it lost 18 million users to the competitors.

In May 2023, BSNL invested Rs 15,000 crore in a consortium led by TATA groups to install 4G sites nationwide. Using this technology, BSNL initially introduced the 4G services in Punjab with almost 800,000 new subscribers.

BSNL officials and RINL officers, DGM B Srinvasa Rao, K Jagadeeswara Rao, RS Patnaik and NVS Sree Devi attended the inauguration function.

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