Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced a tender to set up 10,000 new 4G sites in Delhi under a 10-year operational expenditure (OpEx) model instead of the traditional capital expenditure (CapEx) model.
If the new model works well, BSNL plans to expand it to the entire country.
BSNL Floats Tender for 10,000 New 4G Sites in Delhi Under 10-Year OpEx Model
The tender specifies that bidders must use only trusted products approved by the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).
The project requires participation from a consortium led either by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or a qualified system integrator.
The lead bidder or consortium must have a minimum average turnover of ₹300 crore over the past three financial years.
The tender document clearly states that “the bidder or a consortium lead shall have a minimum average turnover of Rs 300 crores during the last three financial years.”
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), along with partners Tejas Networks and C-DOT, is continuing BSNL’s ongoing 4G rollout across India and is helping the company move toward 5G readiness.
BSNL expects to launch commercial 5G services in Delhi by early 2026, following successful pilot programs such as fixed wireless access testing in Hyderabad.
All 4G BSNL Towers To Be Upgraded To 5G In 8 Months
In October, we reported that state-run telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is set to upgrade its entire 4G network to 5G within the next six to eight months, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia announced at the Kautilya Economic Conclave. The move marks a significant leap in India’s efforts to build a self-reliant telecom ecosystem.
The minister highlighted that 92,500 BSNL 4G towers, which went live on September 27, are based entirely on indigenously developed software and hardware. “The easy path was to buy equipment from foreign vendors; the difficult path was to invent our own 4G stack. In just 22 months, we developed our own core software and radio access network (RAN),” Scindia said.
Scindia also revealed that the government is preparing a Digital Consumer Charter to ensure ethical and fair use of artificial intelligence (AI). He expressed confidence in India’s ability to become one of the top five AI nations globally, citing the country’s innovation and resilience.
