The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to advise BSNL and MTNL to trial locally consolidated networks for a few months before deciding on a vendor for the upgradation of their 4G spectrum services.
As per industry sources, this decision can have far-reaching ramifications as the new setup, if found feasible, can be replicated for other network providers as well as to upgrade to 5G services, the tender process for which is yet to begin.
Recently, the DoT had constituted a six-member committee to deliberate over the 4G upgrade tender after it was scrapped on July 01, 2020.
The panel has already met several times and is in the final stage of drafting the requirements for the fresh tender. The final tender requirements are likely to be finalised by the end of this week. The Rs 70-80 billion tender is part of the BSNL revival package that will enable the telco to expand its telecom presence.
