Fifth-generation 5G telecom services were launched on Nov. 26 in 50 cities in 14 states/union territories, Parliament was informed on Friday.
Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan, in a written response in Rajya Sabha, noted that telecom operators have started deployment 5G Services in the country from October 1, 2022.
“Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) started providing 5G services in the country as of 10/01/2022, and 5G services were launched in 50 cities in 14 states/union territories on 11/26/2022,” Chauhan said.
The minister answered a question about multiple disruptions in 5G services and a bad network.
In addition, he said that according to the offer document for the access spectrum auction and the license conditions, the minimum roll-out obligations must be gradually fulfilled over a period of five years from the date of the spectrum assignment.
The government has launched several policy initiatives to enable faster and smoother deployment of telecom network (including 5G) and telecom infrastructure in the country. These include, inter alia, providing sufficient spectrum for mobile communications services through auctions, enabling spectrum sharing and spectrum trading.
In response to another question, Chauhan said so Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) issued a tender for its 1 lakh 4G site needs in October 2022.
“BSNL published the Expression of Interest (EOI) on January 1, 2021 for the Proof of Concept (PoC). The PoC was completed with few outstanding points. The 5G Non Standalone Access (NSA) upgrade was also retained as a deferred feature in BSNL’s EOI,” Chauhan said.
In addition, the government has reserved spectrum for BSNL to provide 5G services, he said.
On a separate question on the losses of BSNL and MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd), the minister said that the total net loss of BSNL since its inception is Rs. 57,671 crore while that of MTNL is Rs. 14,989 crore as of March 31, 2022.
“The reasons for the losses of BSNL and MTNL are high staff costs over the years, debt burden, fierce competition in the market and lack of 4G services (except to a limited extent in certain areas),” the minister said.
BSNL and MTNL have had positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) since FY 2020-21 as a result of the 2019 recovery plan.
Furthermore, with the implementation of Rs. 1.64 lakh crore revitalization package for BSNL approved earlier this year, the state telecom company “is expected to turn around and become a profitable business”.
