BSNL to roll out indigenous 4G services

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), marking its Silver Jubilee year, is set to launch nationwide indigenous 4G services, reaffirming the Government of India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision.
This was informed by BSNL NE-II Circle Chief General Manager (CGM), N. Murali, during a press conference held at the OCB Building on Friday.
Murali stated that BSNL’s 4G network is fully indigenous, powered by C-DOT core, with TCS and Tejas handling RAN and integration, placing India among the select nations capable of building and deploying a complete telecom stack.
He further informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to commission over 97,500 mobile towers, constructed at a cost of approximately Rs. 37,000 crore, under the BSNL 4G Saturation Project at a function in Jharsuguda, Odisha.
In line with the national rollout, BSNL NE-II Circle—covering Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur—has commissioned 1969 4G sites. Of these, 1238 sites are being developed under the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) to cover 1729 uncovered villages, including 982 in Arunachal Pradesh, 380 in Manipur and 421 in Nagaland.
Additionally, 731 existing 2G/3G towers—289 in Arunachal Pradesh, 255 in Manipur and 187 in Nagaland—are being upgraded to 4G.
Murali highlighted that all towers under the project are solar-powered, making it the largest cluster of green telecom sites in the country.
Providing an update on progress, he said 783 villages across the NE-II Circle have already been brought “On-Air” with 4G services—503 villages in Arunachal Pradesh (243 sites), 50 villages in Manipur (26 sites), and 230 villages in Nagaland (190 sites). On tariff concerns, Murali clarified that BSNL remains a service-oriented provider and would continue to offer affordable rates compared to other operators. He added that 53,000 BSNL users in Nagaland would directly benefit from the rollout. He also noted that BSNL NE-II Circle had recorded the best performance nationwide in the current financial year, with revenue rising to Rs. 171 crore in FY 2025-26 from Rs. 162 crore the previous year, and EBITDA turning positive at Rs. 30.67 crore.
Responding to concerns over poor network service in Nagaland, Murali attributed the issue to the state’s hilly terrain. He informed that BSNL had submitted a proposal to the Government of India for reliable media connectivity and assured that network stability would improve in the coming days.