Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) recently launched its fully indigenous 4G network, 15 years after private operators first introduced these services in India. In September 2025, BSNL announced its 4G stack, a network built entirely with Indian technology, to power its high-speed services. This milestone places India alongside China, South Korea, Denmark and Sweden, countries that have developed and deployed a fully homegrown telecom infrastructure. However, how it will bene­fit BSNL remains to be seen. BSNL’s 4G-only services are being launched in a highly competitive landscape where the 4G services of private operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) already cover virtually every corner of the country. In fact, these operators have already built extensive 5G networks over the past three years.

Back in 2011, BSNL had decided to surrender 4G-capable spectrum it had acquired in 2010, in exchange for a cash refund from the government owing to its precarious financial situation. Meanwhile, private operators continued rolling out services and expanding their presence in the 4G market. Reliance Jio’s entry in the market in 2016 was a turning point for India’s 4G landscape. Although the government reallocated 4G spectrum to BSNL in 2018, the delay in service launch widened the gap with private telcos. As of September 2025, BSNL’s mobile market share stood at 7.88 per cent, whereas market leader Jio held a 41.24 per cent share.

This newly launched indigenous 4G stack can be seen as a strategic effort by the government to help the PSU regain market share. The new telecom stack is drawing significant attention because it is entirely indigenous, with every component developed and produced within India. It is developed by BSNL, featuring a core network from the Centre for Development of Telematics, a radio access network (RAN) provided by Tejas Networks and system integration managed by Tata Consultancy Services.

The development of this self-sufficient system was driven by the major challenges and operational issues faced by the telecom industry during the Covid-19 pandemic. The period highlighted the critical vulnerabilities of relying heavily on ­imported equipment for essential communication services.

BSNL’s 4G network currently operates over 92,000 sites, connecting over 22 million Indians across urban and rural areas, contributing to digital inclusion and economic growth. The network has successfully reached around 29,000 villages. The stack is built entirely with indigenous technology at a cost of around Rs 370 billion. It also includes solar-powered sites to enhance sustainability. According to the government, the fully indigenous 4G stack allows India to maintain full control over its telecom infrastructure, reduces depend­ence on foreign technologies, enhances national security, and provides strategic autonomy and digital sovereignty. It is also creating employment opportunities; strengthening the supply chain through local manufacturing and deployment; meeting domestic demand while remaining export-ready, with several countries showing interest; and demonstrating speed and scale, with the entire 4G architecture built in just 22 months.

The sites can manage nearly four petabytes of data traffic every day with efficiency and security. The programme reflects the “Swadeshi” ethos by promoting domestic production, indigenous skills and community enterprise while enabling BSNL’s financial turnaround and renewing citizen trust, as seen in BSNL’s consecutive profitable quarters after 17 years of strain.

Role of BSNL’s 4G in a growing 5G market

While 5G is witnessing a growing user base, BSNL’s 4G is aimed at bridging the digital divide. While private players are focusing on nationwide 5G, BSNL’s focus is on bringing affordable mobile broadband to tens of millions in rural and low-income areas who still rely on 2G/3G and lack 5G-compatible devices. By connecting previously uncovered villages, the launch provides access to essential services such as e-governance and online education, further advancing the Digital India vision. Also, as the sole public sector operator, BSNL provides a crucial break from the private oligopoly, ensuring competitive pressure on pricing and service quality in underserved regions.

A recent uptick in BSNL’s subscriber base suggests that this strategy may be yielding results. However, at a time when 5G is available in 99.99 per cent of India’s districts, focusing entirely on 4G cannot be a sustainable approach. In view of this, the government has not sidelined 5G entirely. The indigenous stack is fully software-driven, features a cloud-based architecture and is described as “5G-ready”, meaning it can be upgraded without replacing large parts of the deployed infrastructure. Additionally, according to industry experts, BSNL is reportedly planning to launch its own 5G service soon, beginning with key metro cities, including Delhi and Mumbai. According to the ­telco, its indigenously developed equipment is performing well in tests, clearing the way for a commercial launch.

Outlook

The big question that looms large is how this move will make BSNL more competitive vis-à-vis private operators, which together cater to more than 90 per cent of the market. With a market share of roughly 7 per cent, out of the country’s total subscriber base of 1.16 billion, the PSU clearly has a long way to go. Its new services will have to deliver on important metrics and parameters such as call qual­ity, data throughput, site uptime and reach, particularly in districts that still rely on patchy coverage.

Three broad levers will determine BSNL’s trajectory over the next four quarters. First, distribution and service – SIM availability at “kirana” counters, frictionless e-KYC, fast number portability and responsive customer care will be crucial for early adoption. Second, product design – clear, value-for-money 4G plans for mass users, credible fixed-wireless plans for homes and small offices, and simple packs for first-time data users. Third, network densification and fibre backhaul, to ensure that VoLTE and video perform­ance remain stable during peak hours, not just on launch day.

A dual-track strategy may help BSNL stay relevant while the market accelerates towards 5G. This involves deploying 4G in rural and small towns to ensure digital inclusion and selectively rolling out 5G in metros and enterprise clusters, where vi­able use cases and paying customers exist. Government and utility workloads are the natural starting points. These include smart metering, surveillance roll-outs, emergency services, public Wi-Fi extensions and campus networks for state undertakings. Tying the mobile network tightly with BharatNet backhaul wherever available will ensure that each new tower improves both coverage and economics.

Financial strategy will be just as important as network roll-out. Maintaining lean opex, sharing passive infrastructure wherever possible and adhering to tight procurement timelines will be crucial. Success should be measured through hard metrics – net subscriber additions, ARPU stabilisation, churn and port-out rates, percentage of sites on fibre, average downlink speeds at the cell edge and time-to-restore for outages. Regularly publishing these will help build credibility.

Net, net, BSNL needs to build a dependable, resilient network for millions of underserved users, deliver visible wins in the enterprise and government sectors and demonstrate that a homegrown stack can compete at a national scale. If these elements come together, this launch will be remembered not as a late entry into 4G but as a reliable, Indian-made platform promoting both 4G inclusion and 5G innovation.

Shashwat Singh