BSNL To Roll Out 5G Services In India By Next Year

Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the state-owned BSNL will launch 5G services by next year.

In an interview with AIR News, Vaishnaw said that the 5G services will be rolled out by the state-owned telecom operator by next year.

The minister also expressed confidence that 80 percent of the country would be covered by 5G services within a span of 24 to 36 months.

Vaishnaw said that 5G services have already been started in 50 cities across the country, and every week almost five thousand new sites are being added.

He said 5G services will make a huge difference in the field of education, healthcare, agriculture, and logistics.

Vaishnaw's remarks on BSNL's 5G launch gains significance as the state-owned telecom operator is yet to roll out its 4G services in the country. Meanwhile, the private telcos are progressively rolling out the 5G services.

According to the reports, the launch of BSNL's 4G could stretch to March 2023 and the company will initially start deploying its 4G services in metro cities and then will spread it to other parts of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the 5G services in India in October this year.

Two major telecom services providers in India - Reliance Jio and Airtel - started the progressive roll out of the 5G sercvices in the country from October.

Jio's 5G service is available in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Varanasi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Nathdwara, Kochi and all 33 district headquarters of Gujarat. The company recently launched  5G in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur.

Airtel also have started 5G roll out in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur, Varanasi, Panipat, Gurugram, Guwahati, Patna, Lucknow, Shimla, Imphal, Ahmedabad, Vizag and Pune.