BSNL to launch 4G services by year-end

To tie up with private network equipment providers

Aiming to catch up with the competition, BSNL plans to commercially launch fourth-generation (4G) services by the end of this year through partnerships with private network equipment providers, in a deal estimated at around Rs 1,200 crore.

BSNL will come out with expressions of interest next month for a revenue sharing model to launch 4G services. It holds spectrum in the 2500 megahertz (Mhz) band in 14 circles, where it would launch 4G services, BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava told Business Standard. The company has teh spectrum across India, except in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kolkata, and does not operate in Delhi and Mumbai, where MTNL operates.

On Wednesday, the company announced a soft launch of 4G services from Chandigarh with a speed of up to 100 megabytes per second (Mbps). Currently, the services in Chandigarh are available only to employees, while customers can visit the 4G centre to experience it.

After a successful pilot, BSNL aims to get into partnerships with equipment providers. "We will not incur any capital expenditure on launching 4G services. We will go for a revenue sharing model with private equipment players and they will install equipments required for 4G, while we will offer spectrum," he said.

The public sector undertaking is in discussions with Reliance Jio to offer 4G to its customers using their network. "We have done some testing with Reliance Jio. They will use our 2G and 3G network to offer services to their customers and we are looking to offer 4G services to BSNL customers using their network," Shrivastava said.

Some technical issues between the two networks will be resolved soon, Shrivastava said. Also, BSNL is in discussions with Aircel, Airtel and Telenor for ICR (intra circle roaming) agreements.

Currently, the focus is to offer 4G services through WiFi hotspots. "We have set up 620 hotpsots, which will be increased to 2,500 by the end of this financial year. By end of next financial year, we will take the number to 40,000 on a revenue share and capital expenditure model," Shrivastava said.

For BSNL, mobile services contribute Rs 13,500 crore, out of which 10 per cent - Rs 1,350 crore comes from the data segment, which is rising. From broadband services, we earn Rs 7500 crore. Going forward, we expect revenues from combined data and broadband services to at least double to Rs 15,000-16,000 crore in the next two-three years, he said.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Company holds 2500 MHz spectrum in 14 circles
   
• The PSU is in talks with Reliance Jio to offer 4G services through the latter's network
   
• It is also in discussion with Aircel, Airtel and Telenor for ICR agreements
   
• Focus is to offer 4G services through WiFi hotspots
   
• To have 2,500 hotspots set up by end of this financial year, and 40,000 by the end of the next financial year